A Tale of Two Slaves Part 4: Life
by empressmargaretta
Summary: Prince Yuma of Tsukamo never knew what slavery really was. Now, he's found out, and his compassionate heart has taken the struggle of the Barian slave he's met as his own. Will he and his friends be able to help the new member of their group, or will the boy with blue eyes and purple hair remain lost within himself forever?
1. Yuma's Blunder

Prince Yuma of Tsukamo hadn't had so much fun in his entire life. Every time they docked in another port, it was like landing in a different world. Everywhere there were crowds of people, dressed indifferent clothes, speaking in different accents, and selling different things. An arsenal of smells assaulted Yuma's nose and, his mouth watering, he went in search of something delicious. Emperor Kazuma had planned this trip for Yuma, and his son had enjoyed every moment of it. He had brought all his friends along with him- Tori, Bronk, Caswell, Cat, and Flip.

The journey was an adventure, and Yuma's curious nature couldn't get enough of it. There had been some things he didn't quite understand, though. For instance, before this trip, the Tsukamonian Prince had never seen a slave market. He had learned more about the evil institution in the past three months than he ever cared to know. How could anyone ever consider someone else their property, like a cow or a horse? How could they not see that it was wrong?

Yuma had decided that when he was older, he was going to get rid of slavery here in the Southern Isles. He had asked his father why he hadn't come in with an army already to help the slaves. Slavery was illegal in Tsukamo, and Emperor Kazuma made sure it stayed that way back there, so why couldn't he do the same here? Yuma's father had explained that the Southern Isles didn't come into his jurisdiction- Yuma had had to ask him what that meant- and therefore he couldn't just barge in and start ordering the people here around.

Yuma had found a way around this problem for himself, though. Kari would be the ruler of Tsukamo, not him, so when he was older it wouldn't matter either way. He would come back here with his friends and some soldiers and fix the problems himself, and the Southern Isles wouldn't be able to say that he had no jurisdiction there because he wasn't a ruler in the first place. Tori had told him that it didn't work that way, buy Yuma didn't see why not.

He had also made a note to bring some Southern Isles chefs back- if they wanted to- to the Tsukamonian palace to work as cooks there. There were some awesome dishes in this place. Caswell said the Southern Isles had the greatest variety of spices in Heartland and Baria combined.

"Yuma! Wait for us!" Bronk called out as his friend took off in the direction of the food market.

"Always following his stomach," Tori grumbled under her breath. Yuma, Bronk, Tori, Caswell, Flip, and Cat had each been given money and allowed the explore the port on their own this first evening, while the grown-ups found a suitable docking place with reasonable prices. Yuma's allowance was a little bit bigger than the others', since he was royalty, and it usually all got spent on food.

Bronk, too, enjoyed the food stalls, also picking up ingredients to experiment with in the ship's galley. The girls were impatient to see the jewelry booths. Flip bought anything that looked expensive, and Caswell took a long time to weight the pros and cons of each purchase. They were an interesting group, no doubt, but the vendors were always glad to take their gold.

Bronk, Caswell, and Flip were soon finished and ready to accompany the girls to see the jewelry, but Yuma didn't want to go yet. "Just a little bit longer?" he pleaded.

"Any longer and you'll be too full to make it back to the ship." Tori retorted. "Now, move it!" She grabbed him by the ear and dragged him away from the food booths.

"Ow! Hey, it's attached, ya know!" He complained. Only Tori could get away with treating the Prince of Tsukamo like that, and his other friends knew it. Grinning, they followed along behind. Tori soon forgot her annoyance, though; when she saw all the jewelry laid out on the tables in the market stalls. She and Cathy oohed and ahhed at the strings of beads and delicate bracelets, while Bronk stood by politely. Caswell took an interest in the pearls (he'd always thought his mother looked particularly pretty in pearls) and Flip began to hunt down some silver and gold trinkets to add to his collection.

As his friends made their purchases, Yuma hung back and sulked. _That Tori! I would have come in a little bit. And I really wanted to try that grilled kabob._ While he was moping, an idea came to him. _I could go back right now. They're so busy they won't notice. I could go and be back before they even realize I'd gone._ He dismissed the thought as quickly as it had occurred to him. His father and Lord Kay had given strict instructions that the six friends were to stay together. But, the more he considered it, the more slipping away back to the food stands sounded like a good idea. _After all, they didn't wait for me when I wasn't done, so why should I hand around waiting for them? I'll only be gone a minute, two at the most._

With that thought, he slowly backed away from his occupied friends and turned back towards the way they had come. The problem was he had been too busy whining to Tori that he hadn't paid attention much attention to the way they had come. It wasn't long before he was lost. "Great," Yuma muttered. "I was sure it was around here somewhere." He had paused to consider where to go from here- wherever here was- when he noticed a great commotion a little beyond the market. He hesitated briefly, but his curious nature won out and he began following the crowd.

They were gathering around something, but since he was shorter than most of the people surrounding him, he couldn't see what it was. "Excuse me," Yuma said, trying to push his way through.

"Wait your turn, kid!" Someone shouted at him.

"But I can't even see what's going on!" Yuma protested. The person turned towards him, about to shout at him again, but when they took note of the expensive clothing the boy was wearing, and the gold chain that held his cloak around his shoulders.

"My apologies," the man said, giving a toothy smile. "Hey! Let this one through! He can't get a good look at the merchandise." The other islanders noticed the obviously rich boy among them and made way for him, some of them looking polite, some awed, and some hostile. Yuma grinned back at all of them, enjoying being treated by a celebrity. He reached the front of the crowd and was puzzled when all he saw was an empty stage. _Maybe they're going to put on a show. No, the man back there definitely said "merchandise." I wonder what they're selling. Hopefully it's food._

A man got up on the stage and began to ring a bell loudly, demanding everyone's attention. Yuma was close enough that it hurt, and he clamped his hands over his ears. When the crowd had fallen silent, the man began to speak. "All right, ladies and gentlemen, let's get this auction started! The first group to be presented will be grown males."

 _Cool,_ Yuma thought. _They're selling animals. I could get a kitten, if they have one, and give it to Cat to look after._ But, to Yuma's horror, a _man,_ not a beast, was pushed out onto the stage. There was a metal collar around his neck, and the chain attached to it was linked to the shackles around his wrists. _It's a slave auction!_ Yuma felt sick, and desperately turned away, intent on running as far as he could from this place. But the crowd wouldn't part for him again, especially when they couldn't see a reason to. So Yuma had to settle for standing there with his eyes squeezed shut. Bile rose in his throat as he listened to the auctioneer describe the man on the stage like he would a piece of livestock. _Merchandise,_ the man in the back had called them. And they thought he wanted to be here, to gawk at these chained people.

Time seemed to slow down as each slave was sold. Some struggled, others remained silent. Not a moment too soon, at least in Yuma's mind, the auctioneer put down the gavel and began to massage the hand that had been continuously pounding it for the last forty-five minutes. "I'm afraid that's all for grown-up males, folks," he said, and for a moment Yuma's heart felt a bit lighter. "Now, let's move on to the grown females." The enormous weight that begun to lift off of Yuma's shoulders dropped down again, heavier this time. It wasn't over yet. The first woman was dragged out on stage, cowering in front of the crowd like a frightened animal.

It took even longer this time, as the men of the Southern Isle vigorously attempted to outbid each other. Yuma knew that his friends would have missed him by now. What would they think if they knew what he was watching right now? What he had been _eager_ to investigate?

By the time all the women had been sold, Yuma was sure his face was turning green. It had to be over now, right? Wrong. "Our third group of the night will be younger males- children." _Children?_ Yuma blanched. _They sold_ children _at these things?_ He wanted to go home, but he had no choice but to remain at the front of the crowd, not daring to raise his head for fear of what he might see.

The prince probably never would have raised his head if it hadn't been for what the auctioneer said about the fourth boy to be sold. "This one is a rare find indeed. He is a westerner, brought all the way from Baria…" Yuma's attention was caught. _A Barian?_ He had never seen a Barian before- well, except for Rio and Iris, but they were both girls- and before he knew what he was doing, he was raising his head to look. The boy would have been a bit taller than him if they had been side by side, and his skin was a pale shade of ivory, just like Rio's. Yuma could see the boy's face; his head was bowed and his purple, tentacle-like hair fell forward, hiding his features from view.

Nevertheless, there was something undoubtedly familiar about the boy. Yuma couldn't quite place what it was, but he was sure he had seen him somewhere before. There was something…incredibly sad about the way the boy stood, utterly defeated, and Yuma's tender heart went out to him. _I should buy him._ The thought was unbidden. _I can't do that! It's wrong! But then…wouldn't it also be wrong to leave him to these people, to not help him when I can?_ His father always said that not helping a person was the same as hurting them. Yuma's hands went to the pouch he carried the money he had been given in and quickly counted it. Half of it was gone, but surely 100 gold pieces would be enough.

"100 gold pieces!" He called out without pausing to think it through.

"Sold, to the young man in the front row!" the auctioneer cried.

The slave knew that they were bidding for him. He was going to get a new master. He really hoped they would hurry up and get on with it.

His stomach was clenched with hunger and he bit his lip to stop himself from reacting to it. His feet were killing him from standing still for so long, and his neck ached from looking down, not to mention the chain attached to the iron collar around his neck was heavy and weighed him down. He didn't dare budge or lift his head, though. He knew the punishment for that.

His wrists were shackled together, the hard iron rubbing them raw, and the chain that hung from his collar was attached to the chain that connected the manacles. He really, _really_ hoped the bidding would be over soon. Maybe his new master would take pity on him and let him sit down, or even take the chains off.

"100 gold pieces!" A bidder called out. The crowd went silent. The bid was high- extremely high- which was what had caught their attention, but the slave had noticed something else. The voice that had made the bid…it was young, and innocent, and…full of energy. The slave had never known one person could have so much enthusiasm.

Despite knowing the punishment for looking his betters in the eye, the slave couldn't help himself. He glanced up, and was startled by the red eyes, brimming with life, that were looking straight at him.

Yuma was surprised when the boy looked up at him. His eyes immediately caught the prince's attention. They were a deep cerulean blue, almost indigo, but the color wasn't what had Yuma drawn to them. It was the dead, empty look in them that seemed to hit him in the chest, knocking the air out of him. His father also said that the eyes were the windows to the soul, and if that was the boy's soul, Yuma knew he had to help him.

A blow to the head reminded the slave of his place, and he quickly looked down again. "Hey!" Yuma protested, snapped out of his thoughts.

"My apologies, sir," the auctioneer said. "Just reminding him of his place. I didn't mean to damage your property." He held out his hand. "The payment, please, sir."

"Oh, yeah." Yuma handed him his money pouch, deciding to let the property comment go since he didn't know what to say about it anyway. It took the auctioneer a while to count the one hundred gold pieces, since he wasn't going to just take this strange boy at his word. When he was satisfied, the man scooped the gold back into the pouch, labeled it with the slave's number (to make sure the money got back to the right trader) and set it aside.

"He's all yours." Yuma said thankyou to be polite, but he really didn't think this man and these circumstances deserved it. The slave was yanked off of the auction block by his chain and dragged to his new owner. He wasn't resisting- he knew better- but his legs had gone numb from standing still for so long, and he was having trouble walking.

The slave had been surprised when his former master had decided to sell him. Apparently he had debts he had to pay off and had no choice, but he hadn't been very happy about it. He had wanted to keep the slave for himself, and the last week before the slave was sold, his master had beaten him more savagely and more often than ever before. The slave had almost been glad when the organizers of the slave market had come to collect him, but had soon discovered he was no better off. The slave handlers had assumed his injuries were the result of disobedience, and so had starved him to keep him submissive.

The slave desperately hoped his new master would take pity on him and at least let him rest and heal before sending him to work. _Please, please, let him be gracious enough to let me sleep tonight._ His new master was shorter than he was, and though it wasn't by much, the slave did his best to hunch his shoulders and lower his head further. He knew some masters hated any slaves who were talker than them.

He waited for the boy- his master, he reminded himself- to take his leash and lead him to where ever they were going, but his new owner seemed hesitant. Finally, the slave felt him grip his arm and start guiding him away from the slave market. The slave was baffled at this, but he remained silent.

When he thought they were safe enough away, Yuma began talking quickly to the boy beside him. "My name is Yuma. I don't like slavery, so you don't have to act like a slave around me. I just couldn't…I couldn't leave you there. So, what's your name?" The boy didn't answer.

The slave's heart pounded. He couldn't understand a word his master was saying. During the auction, everyone had spoken Heartlandish, since it was the commerce language, but now his master was using a tongue that was completely foreign to the slave. His master was waiting for a response, that much was clear, but he had no idea what to say. Should he speak in Heartlandish to ask what his owner meant? Should he remain silent? Each one could warrant a beating, and he might not be fed or allowed to sleep tonight…

To the slave's very great relief, he was saved in the next moment by a group of people running up to his master. As he watched their exchange, the slave wondered if these newcomers were slaves like himself or if he was to regard them as masters. If they were slaves, they were evidently treated extremely well; however, based on their behavior and their tones around the one who had purchased him, he was going to guess they were on an equal level with him. They seemed upset about something, and the slave's stomach clenched when he realized it was probably him they were discussing.

Yuma had been about to repeat his question when he heard someone call his name.

"Yuma!"

"Yuma! Where have you been?"

"How dare you leave without telling us!"

"Bronk! Tori! Flip!" He noticed his other two companions behind them. "Caswell! Cat! Hey, guys!"

"Yuma!" Tori's face was a storm cloud. "Where have you been? Where did you go? Why did you leave WITHOUT TELLING US?"

"Tori, I-"

"Your father and Lord Kay told us to STICK TOGETHER!" She finally noticed the strange boy standing behind her friend. "Who is this?"

"Uh, Tori, this is…actually, I don't know his name. I asked him but he wouldn't tell me."

"Yuma," Cat whispered, "He's wearing chains."

"Oh," Yuma said, having completely forgotten. "I haven't figured out how to get those off yet."

"Yuma," Bronk said seriously, studying his friend, "You don't have your money pouch. Tell me you didn't…you didn't, did you?"

"You bought a slave, Yuma?" Tori was horrified. "But, why?"

"I don't know, really. He just looked like he needed my help, and so I had to help him."

Caswell shook his head in disbelief. "Your father's going to kill you, Yuma. He's going to _kill you._ "

 **Next time on** _ **A Tale of Two Slaves:**_ **Emperor Kazuma has no idea what to do with his reckless son and the newest member of their expedition.**


	2. The Slave

To say that Emperor Kazuma was stunned, shocked, or horrified when Yuma brought the slave back to the ship and explained what had happened would have been the understatement of the century. He was all three of those things, with about a thousand _very's_ put in front of them.

"What were you thinking, Yuma? A _slave?_ Do you know what people are going to think when they hear about this?

"No," Yuma answered truthfully.

"Well, I'll tell you. They'll think it's an open act of rebellion against me, that I can't control my own son, that their prince supports slavery, and that if you don't have to do what I say, than neither do they!"

"Kazuma," Lord Kay stepped in, "I think you're exaggerating just a bit." The Emperor sank down in a chair across from his son. The entire confrontation was taking place inside his cabin, while Yuma's friends and… he waited outside.

"Maybe I am. But, Yuma, do you have any idea what owning a slave does to people? Ultimate power over another human being is…intoxicating. It's the reason slavery still exists."

"I don't _want_ him to be my slave," Yuma protested. "I want him to be my friend. If anyone thinks I think that slavery is okay, then they can come and talk to me. I'll tell them what I really think, and that I bought…him to help him."

"Someone should go and ask that boy his name," Lord Kay observed.

Emperor Kazuma ran his hands through his hair and sighed at his son's naivety. "I don't think you're going to find it easy to convince him- you're absolutely right, Kay- that you just want to be his friend. And if you tell people that you just wanted to help him by buying him, they'll demand to know why you didn't buy _all_ the slaves for the same reason."

"Because I didn't buy enough money with me," Yuma said, like it should have been obvious.

"Yes, but the royal treasury might seem vast enough to some, and some people are always looking for faults within the royal family…" He blinked and shook his head to clear it. "I'm sorry, son. I don't mean to put my burdens on your shoulders."

"You majesty," Lord Kay cut in, "I think the main issue now is what is to be done with the boy. You've made it clear that you can't keep him as a slave, but you won't be able to make his legitimate until you get back to Tsukamo. Both you and Yuma will have to sign his freedom papers so there can be no doubt that he is his own person. We can't just set him down and let him wander off; he'd be snatched up again within a day."

"I know," Kazuma rubbed his temples. "Yuma, can you please step outside while Lord Kay and I discuss this?"

"Sure Dad." Yuma stood up and left his father's cabin, still slightly confused as to what the conflict was.

* * *

The slave did not have to speak the language of his new master to know that the man on the ship- his master's guardian, probably- was upset about something, and he knew that that something was him. The man and his buyer had disappeared into the main cabin of the ship a while ago, and the slave was getting nervous. He had dropped to his knees when it became clear that nothing was going to be required of him- not for a while, anyway- and remained in that position with his head bowed, as a sign of submission. The man was probably scolding the boy for wasting such a hefty sum on an obviously rebellious slave. After all, if he wasn't rebellious, he wouldn't have been beaten and starved.

His master's friends had remained outside, standing nearby, and were whispering among themselves, glancing at him every so often. Whenever a sailor or a servant passed, they would stop and gape at him until one of his master's friends said something to them, no doubt explaining that he was just the newest purchase from the market.

There was one pair of sailors, however, that lingered a little longer, and had an argument with the green-haired girl before slinking away. The slave made a note to avoid those two. Their looks and tone of voice had been enough to convince him of the nature of their intentions.

* * *

When Scorch and Chills had come sauntering by, Tori had immediately been put on edge. The two of them hadn't actually done anything- yet- but she was sure they were sadistic creeps anyway. They stopped to leer at the boy kneeling on the deck, and her eyes narrowed further.

"Well, well, well, would you look at that, Chills? I wonder what it is."

"Well, clearly it's a slave, Scorch. Haven't seen one of those in a while."

"He's quite exotic looking, don't you think?"

"Yeah. I've never seen skin that shade of ivory before. What do you think? Is he-"

"Leave him alone, you two," Tori interrupted, not wanting to hear more. "He's under Prince Yuma's protection. You'd better not touch him."

"Oh, come now, Miss Meadows," Scorch chuckled. "We were just looking."

"Well, it didn't _sound_ like you were just looking. Now move along and finish whatever job you're supposed to be working on," she said, her hands on her hips.

"You're not the boss of us, b-" Chills was cut off by Scorch in the side.

"We'll go, Miss Meadows, But we'll want to know more about this sl-boy here. Let us know if you find out anything interesting." The two of them loped off with Tori glaring daggers at their backs.

"It'll be snowing in August before I willingly tell them anything," she muttered. The door to the Emperor's cabin opened just then, and Yuma came out, his brow furrowed in concentration. "Well? What'd they say Yuma?"

The Prince shrugged. "I don't think they've decided anything yet. Dad's pretty frazzled, though." His frown deepened when he saw the boy kneeling on the deck. "Hey," he said, heading over to him, "You don't have to sit on the floor. You can sit on one of the barrels here. That's what I always do. By the way, what's your name? You didn't get a chance to tell me earlier."

Yuma's friends crowded around, waiting eagerly for the boy's response. Once again, however, it didn't come. The boy remained as he was: silent. As they watched him, the six friends suddenly realized he was shaking.

"Hey," Yuma said, more softly this time, "It's all right. We're not going to hurt you."

"Why doesn't he say anything?" Flip demanded.

"Perhaps, in the end, he simply doesn't understand us," Caswell said.

"Oh, great," grumbled Tori. "One problem after another."

"But he looked up when I offered a hundred gold pieces for him. He obviously understood me then," Yuma protested.

"Yeah, but everyone in the market was speaking Heartlandish," Bronk reminded him. "What language did you place the bid in?" Yuma scrunched up his face, trying to remember.

"Oh, this is pointless!" Tori exclaimed. "He clearly doesn't understand Tsukamonian, so we'll just have to try Heartlandish." She bent over and said, into the boy's ear, "Can you understand me now?"

* * *

The slave was terrified when his master emerged from the cabin and began talking to him. He still couldn't understand the boy's words, and so he remained silent, hoping that his master wouldn't strike him. He braced himself anyway though, knowing that a punishment after refusing to answer a question or show comprehension was inevitable. He was hopelessly trapped, and there would be no escape once they got fed up and decided to beat him. Tears stung the slave's eyes. He had wanted so much to please his new master, to show him that he could be useful…

"Can you understand me now?" The Heartlandish words pierced through the confusion like a ray of light in a dark tunnel. The slave sagged with relief.

"Yes, m'lady, I can understand you." The words came out dry and hoarse, but he managed to say them. His racing heartbeat had begun to slow a little. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad.

"See, I told you," a boy with blue hair said, looking smug.

"You didn't tell us anything! Tori was the once who got him to talk!" A very short boy with curly brown hair railed against him. The two of them started arguing, but the slave's attention was on his master.

"So, you speak Heartlandish," the boy said.

The slave nodded, relieved. "Yes, master."

"Well, why didn't you just say so?"

The slave tensed. "I- I didn't wish to be presumptuous, Master," he stammered out.

"You don't have to call me that. Just call me Yuma, like the rest of my friends do."

The slave's mind did not comprehend this, so he just said, "Yes, Master," again.

Yuma was puzzled, but decided not to push the issue. "So, what's your name?" he asked for the third time that night, but this time in Heartlandish.

"Whatever you wish it to be, Master," the boy answered automatically. Yuma was even more perplexed by this response.

"Uh…I wish it to be whatever your name is." When the slave didn't respond, Caswell, who had stopped bickering with Flip, asked,

"What did your old master call you?"

"He called me 'slave,' 'boy,' or sometimes 'you,'" was the answer. Yuma and his friends stared at each other.

"Um…okay. What did you master before him call you?"

The slave's memory immediately tried to go back to the time before Chironex had owned him, but an immeasurable pain welled up in him as he did so, and he had to stop; he couldn't go back to that horrible place… "I'm- I'm sorry Master," he gasped. "Please…please don't make me go back there. Please."

"Hey! It's okay! It's oaky!" Frantically, Yuma tried to calm the boy down, but his shouting only seemed to frighten the Barian more. He reached out to comfort him, but the boy shrank away as though expecting a blow.

"We're not going to make you remember," Tori said firmly yet gently. "We'll come up with something to call you. It's all right." Bronk and Flip looked slightly terrified at the boy's reaction, and Cathy was staring at him with wide eyes. What had happened to this boy? Why did he act this way?

Shortly after they managed to get him calm again, the door to the cabin opened and Emperor Kazuma and Lord Kay stepped out. "Yuma," his father started, "Lord Kay and I have decided that the boy will come back with us to Tsukamo. There, we will set him free and allow him to go wherever he wishes to. In the meantime, he is to be treated very carefully. We're not sure what kind of psychological damage he's suffered. It may take quite a while for him to recover and be able to act like a normal person again. Did you manage to find out his name?"

Yuma shook his head. "He only said, 'Whatever you wish it to be, Master.' I told him he didn't have to call me that, but…" He trailed off.

Kazuma closed his eyes. "I was afraid of that," he said. He opened them again after taking a deep breath and continued, "Go along with whatever he says, Yuma. Don't try to correct him too often, but be firm when telling him what he should do. Otherwise, he might get confused and more frightened than he already is, or even panic." The Emperor's eyes fell on Yuma's friends, who were all still standing nearby. "It's late. It's time you all got to bed. Yuma, your new friend can sleep on the window seat in your cabin. And _please_ take those chains off him. Now, goodnight."

"Goodnight, your majesty."

"'Night, Dad."

Kazuma went back into his cabin; Lord Kay and Caswell headed off to their room, Cathy and Tori did the same; Bronk had a small bed in the galley; and Flip went off to the sailors' quarters (he liked sleeping in a hammock). Soon, only Yuma and the Barian were left out on deck.

"Come on," Yuma told him, switching back to Heartlandish. "I'll show you to my room."

It was apparent to the slave that something had been decided, and so far it did not seem as though he was going to be beaten or thrown overboard. When his master told him to come along, the slave obediently got to his feet, despite his protesting limbs, and followed him, keeping his eyes on the deck of the ship.

They descended into the lower levels, where his master opened a door to reveal a large room with a four poster bed at one end and a large window at the other. There were all sorts of things scattered around the cabin, and the slave had to be careful not to step on anything. "This is my room," his master explained. "You'll be sleeping in here with me."

The slave nodded to show that he understood. His master would want him nearby, in case he needed anything. He was going to be able to be useful after all. They'd decided to give him a chance.

Yuma shoved some things off the window seat and onto the floor to make more space. He retrieved a pillow and blanket from his own bed and put them on the cushioned bench, doing his best to make it look like a bed. "There. Oh, sorry." The slave tensed as his master approached him, but all he did was undo the collar and shackles he was still wearing. "There you go"

For a few minutes, the slave just stood there. The chains were off. The horrible, chafing pressure was gone, vanished. He felt like he might rise up off the floor.

"Well, good night." The words caught him off guard, and he glanced over to see that his owner had changed into sleep wear and was getting ready to get into bed. However, instead of climbing in, he just stood there, as though he was waiting something.

Unsure if he was doing the right thing but hoping for the best, the slave quickly knelt down and pressed his forehead to the floor. "Thank you, Master, for letting me stay. I'll work hard and do my best to please you."

Yuma, of course, had been waiting for his new friend to climb into bed, and was shocked when the boy started once again paying homage to him. He was about to tell the boy to get up, when he remembered what his father had said. _Go along with whatever he says._ "That's, uh… that's good. It's time to sleep now."

"Yes Master." The boy curled up on the floor and closed his eyes. Yuma stared, but decided to leave him alone. Shaking himself, he climbed into his own bed and blew out the lamp, leaving the room in darkness expect for the moonlight streaming through the window.

The slave was relieved when his master didn't yell at him to get into a corner, but just left him where he was. At last, the chains were off and he was going to be allowed to rest. His master was in bed and the room was dark, so he allowed himself to relax and stretch out a bit. His stomach still clenched with hunger, but he hadn't done anything to be rewarded with food yet, so that was no surprise. He wondered briefly whom his master had set up the other bed for, and hoped that he wouldn't be in their way. They might string him up in the middle of the room and beat him before leaving him there all night, with no ability to sleep, like his former master had done once when he'd tripped over him in the middle of the night.

 **Next time on** _ **A Tale of Two Slaves:**_ **After learning a few new things about the slave, Caswell comes up with an idea.**


	3. Caswell's Theory

When the slave woke up the next morning, light was already streaming through the window. Blinking, he sat up and looked around, confused as to where he was. He'd never seen this room on Chironex's ship before… it all came rushing back to him. The slave market, his buyer, the muddled confusion of last night, and finally, his master leading him down here.

Risking meeting his master's eyes, he looked over at the bed and was surprised to find that it was empty, the sheets thrown back and his master's sleeping clothes lying haphazardly among them. For a moment the slave panicked. He'd overslept! His master would beat the living daylights out of him when he- He forced himself to calm down and breathe deeply. His master would not have left him asleep if he'd needed anything, right? Clearly, the slave's duties did not include dressing his master. He would just have to make the bed and refold the nightclothes.

After allowing himself a moment to stretch his aching muscles (no matter how often he slept on the floor, it never got comfortable), he went to work, quickly and neatly smoothing out the covers and fluffing the pillows. The night clothes he folded and placed on a chair by the bedside. He'd learned how to make beds a long time ago, but the memories that welled up when he tried to remember exactly when were too painful, so he quickly pushed them out of his mind.

Finished with his first task, he turned his attention to the rest of the room. It was a mess; should he try and clean it up? His master might get angry with him if he touched anything without permission, but he might also be punished for neglecting to do something required of him.

The sound of running footsteps outside the door made up his mind. Quickly he retreated to the corner and knelt down, hoping that whoever it was wasn't in a bad temper. The door flew open and Yuma burst in, breathless and red in the face from running.

"Oh, good, you're awake," he said, leaning against the doorframe in an attempt to catch his breath. "And you made the bed," he added. The slave remained silent, unsure of how to respond to this observation. "Lord Kay sent me to get you. It's time for breakfast, and he was worried you wouldn't be able to find the dining hall on your own."

* * *

This was, in all honestly, not entirely true. Yuma had woken up that morning still puzzled as to why the boy was sleeping on the floor, but had dressed himself without attempting to wake him. The way he figured it, the boy must have been exhausted if he managed to sleep that soundly on the ground. He'd shown up for breakfast without him, though, and Lord Kay had not been pleased.

"What's he going to think when he wakes up and he's all alone?" He'd asked in exasperation. "How will he know where we all are? How's he going to get anything to eat?"

"I figured he'd follow the smell," Yuma had answered lamely.

"Follow the- Yuma, go back and get him right now. You're going to have to learn that that poor boy probably isn't used to doing anything unless he's told to."

"Well, that would explain why he didn't sleep in his bed last night."

"He didn't sleep in his bed? Oh, Yuma, we're going to have to have a long talk. Now hurry up and go get him so he gets something to eat.

Yuma had rushed back to his room and was now in a hurry to get back before the food got cold, or worse, was all gone. "Come on, come on," he urged. The slave didn't know what the hurry was, but he had no desire to find out what would happen if he disobeyed, so he quickened his pace.

Yuma was relived to find that there was still plenty of food left, and he eagerly found a plate and got in line. His friends had already gotten their servings and sat down, but they'd left his normal spot empty for him, and he headed over to join them.

"Hey, Yuma," Bronk said around a mouthful of food, "Where's the slave you bought last night?"

"What do you mean?" Yuma asked. "He's right behi-" Yuma stopped, realizing that the boy was, in fact, not behind him. Quickly he put his food down and went back the way he'd come, looking around the hall for any sign of his new friend. He finally spotted him kneeling in the corner, out of everyone's way. "Hey!" he called, hurrying over to him. "What are you doing?"

"Waiting for your orders, Master," the boy said, bowing his head lower. Had he done something wrong?

"Why didn't you get any food for yourself? I told you it was time for breakfast."

"I'm sorry, Master, forgive me; I did not realize I was permitted to eat. I have not done anything to deserve a meal."

Yuma was shocked. The boy thought he had to do something to earn a meal? Yuma would have gone crazy living like that. "Well, you don't need to do anything to earn food here. Whenever it's meal time, I want you to help yourself, okay?"

The slave could barely believe what he was hearing. "But, Master, why would you reward me when I have done nothing to earn your favor?"

"Because food isn't a reward, it's a part of life. Now come on and help yourself." Yuma reached down and helped the boy to his feet before guiding him over to the table. "What do you like to eat?" He asked.

"Oh, I'll eat anything that you think is fit for me, Master," the slave said hastily. It was not a slave's place to say what he preferred; the Master would decide what was best for his property.

Because his head was bowed, the slave didn't see the odd look Yuma was giving him. "I'll just give you a bit of everything, then," he decided. The slave watched with wide eyes as his master filled a plate with waffles, fruit, bacon, oatmeal, coffee cake, and toast. "The food is always the best shortly after we leave a port, because it's at tis freshest." Yuma explained. He glanced at his companion and was a little startled at the look on his face. "When was the last time you had anything to eat?"

"Several days ago, Master," the response was whispered, as though he was frightened of saying it out loud.

Yuma almost dropped the plate. "Several days!?" He cried. Several people nearby stopped what they were doing and looked over at them. The boy had hunched over and was shaking slightly.

"I'm sorry, Master. I don't remember any more specifically than that…"

"What? Oh, that's alright. I was just a bit…surprised." When the boy's plate was full, Yuma handed it to him and turned to lead him over to the table, preparing to squeeze both of them in between Bronk and Caswell. To his surprise, when he turned towards the Barian boy, he was once again gone. "What the-"

"He's over there," Caswell said, pointing towards a corner where the purple-haired boy had settled down and was eating with his fingers.

"Why isn't he using any silverware?" Cat asked.

"Probably because Yuma forgot to tell him that he could," Lord Kay said, sitting down beside her. "Like you forgot to tell him that he could sleep on the window seat last night."

"Dad told me to go along with whatever he did!" Yuma protested.

"That's true," Lord Kay admitted, pouring syrup over his waffles, "But you need to keep his welfare in mind, your highness. If he's not eating or sleeping on the floor, you should make sure he stops."

"How am I supposed to make him stop? He's terrified of me. I don't want to scare him anymore." Yuma sat down and attacked his cinnamon oatmeal with a vengeance.

"You'll just have to be firm with him. Make sure he understands what you want for him. I'll give you an opportunity to practice. I've placed the bathing room off limits this morning; I think it's about time he had a bath."

Yuma looked over to where the boy was sitting, his legs pulled out against him, as though he was trying to take up as small a space as possible. He was quite filthy, actually, now that Yuma took a good look at him. "Okay," he agreed.

"You're going to have to be firm with him. Let him know that he should listen to anything I tell him; that it's alright for him to take a bath and make himself as clean as possible. Be firm, but not threatening."

Yuma sighed. "I'll try," he said.

After breakfast, Yuma went to find the boy and try what Lord Kay had suggested. The slave immediately knelt and bowed his head, awaiting his master's orders. "Um…" Yuma began. He glanced over at Lord Kay, who mouthed the word _firm_ at him and gave an encouraging nodded. Taking a deep breath, Yuma said, "Come with me." It came out rather snappish and he cringed, but the boy obediently got up and followed him over to Lord Kay.

"This is Lord Kay," Yuma said when they reached him. "He's a good friend of my father's- and of mine- and I want you to do everything his says." He stole a glance at his teacher to see how he was doing. When Lord Kay didn't frown or shake his head, Yuma continued, "He's going to take you to the washing room and have you take a bath. I want you to get as clean as possible. Take all the time that you need. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Master." The slave couldn't believe what he was hearing. A bath? All for him? And he could take as long as he wanted? _Of course, this is probably a one-time thing,_ he thought to himself. _They just want to make sure I get rid of any germs before they send me to work. In the future, baths will probably be similar to what they were on my old master's ship- a bucket of cold water, coarse soap, and fifteen minutes._

The slave followed the one called Lord Kay through several passages of the ship until they reached a small room with a hollow in one corner of it. In it was a wooden tub. Because of the hollow, it looked like an actual bathtub instead of a bin of water. Above it was a metal spout. Along one wall were shelves of soaps, shampoos, and conditioners, all of gleaming bottles and paper wrappings.

The man called Lord Kay walked to the opposite wall and turned a wheel to the right. There was a squeaking noise, and, to the slave's shock, water began pouring out of the spout on the wall. He jumped backwards, startled.

"It's alright," Lord Kay told him. "This is my own invention. It's a portable water heater. In the bowels of the ship, there's a giant metal casket of water that's heated on and off with a coal fire. When you turn this wheel," He gestured to the wheel on the wall, "A valve opens and the hot water comes straight into the tub. Emperor Kazuma- that is, Yuma's father- liked it so much he had it installed in all his ships." He stopped when he realized the boy seemed more bewildered than fascinated. "Sorry. I'm an inventor at heart."

Lord Kay opened a closet and pulled out a fresh towel before turning back to the Barian boy. "You may choose any soap, shampoo and conditioner to use in the bath, just don't use too much. Scrub and rinse well, and then dry off with this." He handed the boy the towel. "There'll be clean clothes waiting for you outside; just open the door and look for them hanging on the knob or laying on the floor. Do you understand?"

Completely overwhelmed, the slave could only nod. Lord Kay left the room after shutting off the valve and instructing him to wait until after he was finished to leave the room. "We don't want you getting lost," He'd explained.

When he was left alone, the slave could only stare around him in amazement. He had no idea where to start. After staring at the soaps and hair products for a long time, he suddenly realized that he shouldn't take advantage of his master's generosity and hurry up and take a bath before the water got cold.

He decided to use lavender; someone had once told him that it was a simple, practical, yet pleasing scent. He wasn't going to test his luck by choosing something fancier. No matter how kind his master was, there were limits to what a slave was allowed to do, and they had been beaten into him a long time ago.

He pulled off the filthy shirt and pants he'd been given five weeks ago and lowered himself into the water, gasping at the sudden sensation. The warm water engulfed him, sending goosebumps down his arms and back. Closing his eyes, he sank down all the way up to his chin, enjoying the incredible sensation. He had a dim memory of being in such a bath before, but he quickly squashed any memory of it. It was a natural reaction now, having been beaten into him very effectively.

The slave was tempted to just soak for a while, enjoying the warm water, but he knew better. He'd already wasted time staring at the soaps, and he wasn't going to try his luck. His master may have been merciful so far, but that didn't mean he wouldn't punish him. He began to scrub himself with the lavender soap, as hard as he could. The feeling of all the dirt and grime from the slave ship and the market coming off was amazing.

He washed himself all over several times, not knowing when he would next get to have a bath. His hair, too, had to be washed several times before it was really clean. He used several doses of the conditioner to get as many of the tangles out as he could. When he was finally finished, the slave climbed out of the tub and dried himself off with the towel Lord Kay had given him. It was clean and fluffy, nothing like the rags he had used on board Chironex's ship. There were clean clothes waiting for him right outside the door, too, just like Lord Kay had said they would. There was a white shirt, black trousers, and a purple vest to top it off. They were nothing like Barian clothes, but they were new and clean, and he wasn't going to complain.

* * *

Inside Emperor Kazuma's cabin, Yuma and his friends had gathered to discuss what they had learned about their newest acquaintance.

"Well, Yuma?" his father asked. "What have you learned so far?"

"Mostly that he won't do anything unless I tell him he can. He didn't sleep on the window seat last night, and he didn't know he was allowed to eat until I told him, and even then he went and sat in the corner instead of sitting at the table with the rest of us. I know you told me to go along with whatever he did, Dad, but I can't let him act like…like…"

"Less than human," Cathy finished for him.

"If I may be allowed to put forth an opinion," Caswell said, and when no one objected continued, "I think that we can get him to stop acting sub-human if we simply tell him to stop. He's been trained to do whatever his 'master' tells him to do, so if Yuma tells him to eat at the table, or sleep in a bed, then he should do it, right?"

"But I don't _want_ him to do whatever I tell him," Yuma said, scowling. "That makes him my slave."

"That's just it," Caswell told him. "After a while, you won't have to tell him. He'll just do it. And since he's a person first and a slave second, it should become his first nature again rather quickly. It will be like…un-training him."

"I don't think that's a word," Tori told him.

"It also depends on how long he's been enslaved," Emperor Kazuma said gravely. "It might take years for him to be 'untrained' as you put it."

"Yeah, but it's worth a shot. We can't leave him cowering in terror from all of us," Bronk said.

"Perhaps," Kazuma stroked his beard. "Alright, I'll let you try it, but you have to be _gentle_ with him. If it comes down to yelling at him in exasperation because he won't do what you're telling him, we're changing tactics."

Yuma, Bronk, Tori, Caswell, and Cathy agreed quickly to this, but Flip took some convincing. "I think it's a waste of time," he said blatantly, but eventually, with a lot of wheedling from Yuma, he grudgingly agreed.

After waiting a while, they decided that the boy-who-was-not-yet-named was probably done with his bath, so they headed for the bathing room. Taking a deep breath, Yuma raised his hand and knocked.

"Who is it?" They heard the boy ask after a long moment of what must have been indecision.

"It's Yuma," the Prince called through the door. "Can we come in?"

"Of course, Master. I would never presume to tell you what you can and can't do." There was a tremor of fear in the boy's voice this time. Yuma opened the door, slowly as not to startle the boy, and was shocked as to what he saw. The Barian was kneeling on the floor, half-dressed. His trousers were on, but the white shirt Lord Kay had found for him was clutched in his hands, leaving his back bare to view.

Tori let out a strangled gasp, and Cat cried out and turned away. Bronk was white as a sheet, and Yuma, Caswell, and Flip were all frozen in shock. The boy's back was covered with scars, long, crisscrossing marks that told of many old punishments. Yuma felt like he couldn't breathe. He knew what those marks meant…how could someone have done something like that to anyone?

The stunned silence might have remained all day if Lord Kay hadn't arrived at that moment. He took in the sight before him and let out a long breath. "Well," he said finally. "It looks like out friend here is going to need a haircut."

 **Next time on** _ **A Tale of Two Slaves:**_ **The group puts Caswell's "un-training" theory to the test.**


	4. Untraining

Tori and Cathy took over the job of cutting the Barian boy's hair. When the prospect of a haircut came up, they absolutely insisted. "We're then only women on this ship," Tori had said, "And we can't trust you men to cut hair without doing something horrible." So, Lord Kay had forked over the scissors over to them and they quickly went to work. The boy had put his shirt on and was sitting, fully dressed, on a stool while Tori and Cathy examined him and murmured to themselves. It was very disconcerting.

The slave sat tensely, his shoulders hunched over, waiting to see what would happen. He'd never been fully groomed before- at least that he would allow himself to remember- and it made him nervous. _Snip, snip, snip._ The noise startled him to the point that he almost jumped up from the stool. Gripping his seat, he managed to stay put while the green-haired girl- Miss Tori- went to work. She trimmed his hair expertly, eliminating the shagginess it had taken on within three weeks on board the slave ship. Cathy consulted her, asking about various spots and if it would look better with such and such, and so on, until they finally stepped back and admired their work.

Nodding her approval, Cathy handed the boy a mirror and asked him what he thought about it. Studying his reflection, the slave suddenly felt very strange. It had been months since h's last seen himself in a looking glass, and at first glance he didn't appear all that different. However, there was a subtle difference in his face- a gaunt, haunted look made all the more prominent by his hollowed eyes. The slave glanced over at his master, who had stayed and watched the whole affair with interest. He didn't dare respond the gray-haired girl's question without his master's approval.

"Does it please you, Master?" He asked, hesitantly reaching up to touch the tips of his hair. His head felt much lighter without the weight of the dirt, tangles, and dishevelment gone.

"You look a lot better," Yuma told him, not sure what else to say. The slave bowed his head again.

"Thank you, Master. And, thank you, M'lady." He handed the mirror back to Cat, who blushed, not used to being addressed so respectfully.

The friends had already decided that the new boy- they still had no idea what to call him- should spend his time helping them with their various tasks. "You have to make sure he's doing something," Kazuma had told them. "Otherwise, he'll feel like he's being useless, and who knows what he might do then." This arrangement also gave Yuma the opportunity to practice what Lord Kay had suggested at breakfast.

"This is Bronk," he told the boy, introducing him. "He works in the galley making food for us, just like his mom does at the palace. I want you to help him make lunch. Do whatever he needs you to, okay?"

"Yes, Master," the slave answered automatically. "And another thing," Yuma said, "Don't call me _master._ Just call me-" he was about to say Yuma, but remembering how effective that had been before, he said, "Call me your Highness."

"Yes M-your Highness," the boy corrected himself quickly.

"Good." The slave felt a rush of satisfaction at this praise from his master. Why he wouldn't want to be called by his proper title, the slave had no idea, but he wasn't stupid enough to question direct orders.

The one called Bronk took him down to the galley, a small and pleasant kitchen that smelled of many different spices. The slave breathed deeply, enjoying it for a brief moment before he caught himself. Enjoyment of any kind was forbidden to slaves, unless they were told to enjoy something by their masters. He flinched, expecting a blow, but Bronk didn't seem to have noticed the infraction.

"We're going to make soup for lunch today," he started. The slave nodded, knowing that lunch was the Heartlandish word for dinner. Bronk studied his stocked shelves, trying to make up his mind about ingredients. "Noodles," he said at last. "We'll make a spicy noodle soup." He began to take things down and assemble his supplies, choosing between various spices and vegetables. "We have to use these now, while they're still fresh," Bronk explained as he pulled out carrots and celery. "After a few days at sea, they'll start to spoil. Here, wash these and cut them into small, bite-size pieces. Make sure to cut off the ends; they're not good for eating. You can use the running water," he reached over and turned on a faucet, which that slave had noticed and wondered about. Clear water poured out of it and into a basin. "Another one of Lord Kay's inventions. I assume he told you about the hot water bath?"

The slave nodded, staring transfixed at the stream and fresh water coming from somewhere inside the massive ship. Slowly, he reached out and placed his hand under it, letting the cool liquid flow over his fingers. He was so mesmerized by it that a clatter next to him made him jump. He turned back towards Bronk to see that the black-haired boy had had dropped a knife and was reaching to get it.

"This is a good knife for cutting vegetables," he said, handing it to the slave. "And I know the running water is fascinating, but don't use too much. We have a limited supply."

The slave's reaction was instantaneous. He shrank back and fell to his knees, trembling. "I'm sorry, sir. I'm sorry. I won't do it again. I'm sorry. I was foolish. Please, please have mercy on me."

Bronk was aghast. He had never imagined that someone could be so terrified by a simple reprimand. "Uh…um…that's alright. It's no big deal," he said hastily, reaching out to shut off the faucet. "Just get up and help me with the vegetables. Don't worry about it. Really."

The slave scrambled to his feet, almost disbelieving Bronk's words that he wasn't going to be punished. Chironex would have started beating him the moment he'd realized the boy was wasting water. He reached for a carrot and began his task, sparing the water as much as possible as he washed it. He didn't know what his master's friend would do to him if he thought he was still wasting it.

Yuma was anxious for lunchtime- well, to be fair, Yuma was always anxious for a meal- but he was especially impatient today because he wanted to see how Bronk and the Barian were getting along. He pushed open the door of the kitchen to find Bronk putting things away and the boy setting the table. "Wow, that smells delicious, Bronk. I can't wait to taste it."

Bronk was about to make a comment about how Yuma had better not touch the soup until everybody arrived, but both boys had suddenly noticed the Barian boy had fallen to his knees and was pressing his forehead to the floor. "You have to do something, Yuma. He's been doing that all morning. It's been driving me nuts."

"What do you want me to do?" Yuma asked, exasperated. "I hate just ordering him around." Nevertheless, he had to admit that that method did seem to work the best, and the idea of the boy constantly falling to his knees was even more appalling. "Hey," Yuma called to him, feeling incredibly awkward without a name to address him by, "Why are you doing that?"

"Doing what, Mas- your Highness?" the boy asked, a note of panic in his voice.

"Kneeling on the floor."

"Because you entered the room, your Highness. You are my master; I must show you proper respect." The slave could not imagine why else his owner would have asked this question unless it was a test of some kind. Chironex had done that sort of thing often, and if the answer was wrong, a whip would be used to engrain the correct response on the slave's mind.

However, to the slave's shock, his new master's only response was, "Well, I want you to stop doing it."

"St-stop?" The slave was so stunned he voiced his surprise before he could stop himself. "F-f-for-forgive me, Master, I did not mean to question you; I- I was out of place, pl-please-" Yuma hurried forward, intent on assuaging the terrified boy's fear, but all he accomplished was causing the boy to cringe and flinch away violently, expecting the Prince to strike him.

Slowing down, Yuma knelt down next to him and grasped his shoulders firmly. "Listen to me. I don't want you to call me master, and I don't want you to kneel down every time I enter the room. If you forget, I won't hurt you. I promise. Alright?" When the boy didn't answer, he tried, "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Yes, M-your Highness, but-" he hesitated.

"Go ahead. I want you to ask me questions if you have them."

The slave swallowed and pulled himself together. "Your Highness, I am just a slave, a piece of your property, and yet you do not require any of the behavior that is normal for someone of my station. Why?" He immediately flinched, used to such impudence being severely chastised, but his master only sighed.

"I know that you might find this hard to believe, but I don't want you to act like my slave. I don't see you that way."

The slave's mind reeled at this statement. Not act like a slave? Not be _seen_ as a slave? But that was all was. That was all he _deserved_ to be. How could his master say such a thing? _He doesn't know what you are,_ a tiny voice deep inside him whispered. _He doesn't know what you did…_ The slave slammed the door on the flood of memories that tried to barrage him. He was a slave; he had to act as such or suffer the consequences. And slaves were _never,_ under any circumstances, to contradict their masters.

"Yes, Master." Yuma felt like he'd been hit in the stomach when the boy uttered those words. He looked up at Bronk helplessly. It appeared that they were back at square one. "You can finish setting the table," Yuma said finally, getting to his feet. The boy hastened to obey, and Bronk went back to his soup, feeling just as helpless as his friend.

A few seconds later, Tori, Cathy, Flip, and Caswell were coming through the door, exclaiming over how good the stew smelled, how hard their morning chores had been that day, and how hungry they were. Bronk began serving them, relieved to have a normal task to focus on, but Yuma watched the Barian closely as his other friends arrived. Finished with the table, the purplette slipped quietly over to a corner and knelt down, keeping his eyes trained on the ground.

Remembering something that his grandmother and Master Roku were fond of telling him- _actions speak louder than words-_ the Tsukamonian Prince walked over and gripped the boy by the arm. "I meant what I said," he whispered. "Come over here with us." He pulled the boy to his feet and guided him over to the table. "Sit down," he said firmly. Not wanting to anger his master, the slave quickly did as he was told. "Give him some soup, Bronk. I'll be right back."

Normally, the table in Bronk's small galley seated six people, just enough room for Yuma and his friends to have their midday meals together. Usually, Bronk, Yuma, and Tori sat on one side, and Cathy, Caswell, and Flip sat on the other. Now that the Barian had taken Yuma's spot between Bronk and Tori, the Prince would have to find some other seating arrangement.

He came back rather quickly, carrying a large box with him. He set it upside down at the head of the table and took his seat, his mouth already watering from the delicious smell that had spread around the room. "Man, I'm starved!" he exclaimed, and the others had to agree with him.

They soon realized, however, that they didn't really know what it meant to be starved. When he had been assured that he could eat, the slave dug in, hunching protectively over his bowl, as though he feared it would be taken away from him. He ate quickly but quietly (something Yuma had never known was possible) and soon his bowl was empty. Bronk refilled it for him, assuring him that, since he had helped make it, he deserved the first second helping. Besides, no one else had much of an appetite, considering what the boy must have lived through, to be as timid and scared as he was now. It seemed as though Caswell's "untraining" theory wasn't as cut-and-dry as it seemed.

 **Next time on** _ **A Tale of Two Slaves:**_ **The Tsukamonian travelers finally come up with a name for their new acquaintance.**


	5. What's in a Name?

It had been several days since the Emperor's _Key_ had set sail, and over a week since Yuma had introduced an entire new dynamic to everyone's life. After the initial and unsettled reactions had worn off, life had once again fallen into routine, and people were becoming used to having then Barian around.

Of course, a freedom-loving people, none of the Tsukamonians could get accustomed to the boy's terrified demeanor, or the way he called Yuma "Master" and knelt down every time the Prince entered the room. Yuma and his friends had been working hard to convince the boy that he was not a slave in their eyes, but he seemed to be convinced otherwise. However, they had made some progress. The boy didn't flinch as often or as violently when people approached him anymore, and he seemed more comfortable around them. They were small victories, but they were victories none the less.

The slave himself was sure that his master's kindness could not last forever. After all, he was only a slave, and sooner or later he was going to prove useful as a means to take out frustration. It was a part of his life as another's property. Besides, he knew he deserved to suffer; it was only a matter of time before his master realized it too. The guilt felt like a giant red blood stain that was plainly visible to everyone that saw him.

Other than this knowledge, his life was considerably better than it had been. He was allowed to sleep on a window seat, though why he could not imagine, and have three meals every day. When he was not at his master's side, he was usually helping one of Yuma's friends with their tasks. That was what he was doing now- helping the small, brown-haired one called Flip to braid ropes.

"Sailors always need more rope on hand," Flip had explained to him. "They can never have too much." For a small person, Flip had a lot to say. "You don't need to worry about Yuma," he'd said the first day they'd worked together. "He's a really nice guy, with a heart of gold. He convinced some people I'd kind of bothered for a while not to have me thrown in jail, and then he let me come in live in the palace with him, since I didn't have anywhere else to go. He's a great guy. You have nothing to worry about with him. Oh, by the way, braiding these ropes will give you pretty bad blisters, but after a few days, you'll get callouses and it won't be a problem."

Flip had been right about the blisters- they had been awful the first few days. The one called Tori had rubbed balm into his hands and bandaged them before he went to sleep, and that had helped somewhat, but he was still pretty sore for a while. Now, though, his callouses had developed, and he could braid the cords together without a problem.

He liked being out on deck, the cool, salt air breezes making everything seem fresh. He could sit in a small corner with Flip and work steadily and not be in anyone's way. After several bad experiences on the _Skull Kraken,_ the slave had learned to be wary of sailors. So far, though, none of them had done anything except greet him politely or send him curious looks. None of them, that was, except for Scorch and Chills.

Scorch and Chills were the two that the slave had noticed on his first night, the ones that Tori disliked immensely. He made it a point to avoid them at all costs, especially now that he knew more about them. Both Tori and Yuma had warned him about the two sailors.

"I'm sure that they've been involved in something illegal," Tori said, scowling. "But Yuma's father says we can't accuse them without proof."

"He also says that it would be wrong to single them out because they're queers," Yuma had put in. "Of course, he says we shouldn't call them that, but everyone else does. They live in their separate society, and most people avoid them. My Dad doesn't agree that what they're doing is okay, but he says we can't just condemn them or treat them differently. That's why he hired Scorch and Chills: to make a point."

"I'm not singling them out because of their…preferences, Yuma, but I'm sure there's something not quite right about those two. There are probably plenty of nice people in the queer society, but I'm _telling_ you, there is something sinister about those two in particular."

Most of the conversation was lost on the slave, but he knew what a queer was, and he could see Tori's point. It was the first thing he'd thought when he'd seen them. Right now, though, they were nowhere to be seen, and he allowed himself to relax and just listen to Flip's banter. A good hour had passed before he had reason to regret letting his guard down.

"Oh, there you guys are!" The slave jumped, smacking his head against the wood he was sitting in front of. "Whoops! Sorry," Caswell, who had caused the accident, reached out to help him. "I just came to tell you guys that Bronk's started on lunch, and he says it's a relatively easy recipe, so he won't need your help today. So, I was wondering if you'd like to come to my step-dad's study and look at his books. Some of them are written in western languages, and I thought you might be able to translate them a bit. I know you probably can't read or write, but I could read them to you, and you might be able to tell me what the words mean."

The slave wasn't exactly sure what to do. It was clear that Caswell wanted him to do something, but he wasn't telling him to do it. What if Flip still needed him? Would he be punished if he couldn't satisfy both of them? Nervously his eyes flicked back and forth between his master's friends.

Flip noticed the boy's uncertainty and decided to speak up. "You can go with him. We're almost done with these anyway." He held up a coil of finished ropes. The slave nodded and got to his feet, wincing a little as he changed position for the first time since sitting down.

"Great!" Caswell enthused. "Come on, I'll show you to the study." The slave followed him up to a higher deck of the ship, to a place that he hadn't been before. Caswell opened a door and led him into a modest bedroom with two bunks and a table with two chairs. "This is the room where my step-dad, Lord Kay, and I sleep. The study is in the adjoining room." He opened another door, this one on the back wall and directly opposite from the first one, revealing a room filled almost exclusively with book shelves. The only other piece of furniture was an old settee shoved into one corner.

The slave stood and looked at all the books, a thrill of excitement going through him. Caswell walked to a bookshelf and began pulling off volumes until his arms were full before dropping them off at the settee and heading back for more. The slave had quickly learned that Caswell was very systematic and he never wasted time.

The slave knew he shouldn't, but he couldn't stop himself from looking at a few titles. Many were in Barian, a few were in Dracht, one or two in Astranian, and- there! A book in Salkie! He reached out and gently traced the words written in his own language. _Ah Leabhar Miotais._

"A Book of Fables," he murmured.

"What was that?" Caswell appeared from behind yet another pile of books.

The slave snatched his hand back. "Th-the title, sir. It's _A Book of Fables._ I'm sorry; I know I shouldn't have-"

"You mean you can read this?" Caswell interrupted him, picking up the book.

"Yes, sir. I'm sorry."

"No, nothing to be sorry about!" The blue-haired boy was getting very excited. "Are there other ones you can read?" He picked up a book in Dracht. "What's the title of this one?"

"Under the Moon: The Tale of a Knight of Drachelm," the slave translated in his head.

"And this one?" Caswell held up an Astranian manual.

"The Art of Axe-Throwing." After running through six or seven more, Caswell was beyond astonished.

"How many western languages do you know?"

"Four: Salkie, Barian, Dracht, and Astranian."

"And you also speak Heartlandish." He sat down on the settee, staring at the boy in amazement. "I don't even have to read them to you. You can read them to me, and I'll write them down. How did you learn so many languages anyway? Is everyone in Baria so multilingual?"

Pain shot through the slave as images flashed before his eyes of a gray-haired boy, a tall, pale woman with green hair, a man wearing a crown, and several others.

"Hey!" Caswell was alarmed. The boy had suddenly started shaking and swaying on his feet. "Hey, you should sit down." The boy didn't respond, so Caswell took his arm and led him over to the settee and forced him to sit. "Forget I asked any of those questions," he told him. "Let's move on to a different topic. Yuma's asked me to teach you Tsukamonian, just so you'll be more comfortable when we get back home. Also, it's about time we came up with a name for you. Otherwise, introductions will be pretty awkward, don't you think?"

"Yes, sir." The slave said, not daring to disagree.

"Okay then. I think it's somewhere over here…Aha!" Caswell pulled out a thin book with yellowing pages and flipped through it. "I'll read you the boys' names out loud, and you choose one that you like, okay?"

The slave nodded, not wishing to be punished for being stupid or uncooperative, but he desperately wished Caswell would tell him what he was supposed to like. The slave himself didn't like anything in particular, not that he could remember. If his master wanted him to like something, he would tell him. The slave couldn't recall his master telling him anything about names that were preferred over others, so he remained silent, hoping that he would hear something that sounded right or reminded him of the answer. Once or twice, he almost spoke up, but then he wondered if his master would punish him for guessing incorrectly, and stopped himself.

They had gotten most of the way through the P's when Caswell realized that his strategy of finding a name for the boy wasn't working. Sighing, he closed the book and laid it aside. The slave panicked. Had he had missed the right one? Would he be whipped now?

"We'll work on that later," Caswell said, and a knot of dread settled in the slave's stomach. His old master had always said that whenever he was going to beat him yet again to enforce a rule. "For now though, I'm going to try and teach you some Tsukamonian words."

The blue-haired boy found a book with a substantial amount of pictures and went to sit next to the Barian boy. Opening the pages, he pointed to various objects and identified them. The boy would repeat them back until he had the pronunciation right, and then they would move on. Every so often, Caswell would flip back to words they'd already gone over and see if the boy could remember them. He learned quickly, and they went on like this until they came to a picture of a large, toothed fish.

"Shark," Caswell said in Tsukamonian, and waited for the boy to repeat it. The boy didn't respond. He couldn't. He was breathless, a strange feeling coming over him. Something in the back of his mind was screaming at him that this animal was important. Without thinking, he reached out and touched, knowing somehow that he identified with this creature.

Chironex had conditioned him to fear the Barian, Dracht, Astranian, and Salkie words for shark (they were similar words, in themselves) as well as the Heartlandish one, but he hadn't bothered with the Tsukamonian one, mostly because Chironex didn't speak that language. However, the slave had not been taught to fear the great fish themselves, which was why his conditioned instinct to ignore the _word_ wasn't there for the _picture,_ or the Tsukamonian word Caswell had just used to identify it.

"Shark," he repeated, puzzled at the Barian's reaction.

"Shark," the boy repeated. He withdrew his hand from the picture and instead pressed it against his chest. "Me," he said, his eyes never leaving the page.

"What?"

"I think…I think I was named for this creature," he whispered.

"Shark? You think your name is Shark?"

"Maybe," the slave said, and then suddenly remembering where he was, he added, "If it is displeasing to you, I will not speak of it again, but I think…I'd like to be called the same as this creature." He squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the slap, but none came.

"Alright," Caswell nodded slowly, "If that's what you want, your name can be Shark."

 _My name,_ the boy thought. _I have a name._ His eyes opened, and for one instant Caswell saw something in them. It was a strange sight, but for one moment, Shark's eyes had a spark in them, something other than bleak nothingness.

 _His name,_ Caswell realized. _He has a name, one he chose._ A famous old quote came back to him in that moment- _What's in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet._ Right now, looking at a boy who had just gained back part of his identity, that question seemed incredibly silly Caswell Francis.

 **Next time on** _ **A Tale Two Slaves:**_ **Tori's suspicions about Scorch and Chills are proved right…in the most horrible way possible.**


	6. Rape!

"Oh my gosh, Bronk! What in the world are _those_?" Yuma was starry-eyes as he stared at the delicious-smelling golden brown patties.

"Fried potato hashes," Bronk said. "Shark told me how to make them. He did a lot of the wok himself, actually."

Yuma turned towards the Barian in amazement. "Really? Are they a Barian food?"

"A very common one, your highness." They had almost completely broken him of the "master" habit in the past few weeks. "They're really easy to make, and since potatoes are very common and store well, people always seem to have some on hand." They had been encouraging Shark to talk more, hoping to put him more at ease with them. Throughout his explanation, the purplette glanced up several times as well, having discovered that he would not be struck for doing so. He still didn't hold steady eye contact, though, it having been deeply ingrained in him that such an act only brought pain.

"Well, they look delicious. Come on. Let's eat; I'm starving." Shark felt a warm glow inside him at having once again pleased the Prince. Of course, easy-going Yuma was easy to please, and Shark was more and more amazed every day at how merciful his master was. Not once since being purchased had he been beaten, deprived of sleep or food, or worked until he could no longer move from exhaustion. And he knew, deep down, that he deserved such brutal treatment. He just couldn't remember why.

Shark was silent during the meal, listening to Yuma and his friends talk a mile a minute about every topic they could think of. He felt safe here, among the six friends. He knew now that none of them would ever hurt him. In fact, they all seemed determined to make sure he was comfortable and healthy. Like the time he had cut himself while chopping vegetables and Bronk had carefully bandaged him up, or when Cathy had stitched up his sleeve when he'd ripped it while working on the sails with Flip.

"Caswell and I can handle the dishes," Bronk said when the meal was over. "Why don't you go take a breather, Shark?"

"That's alright. I _shimashita_ Tori that I would _tasukete_ her with the _randor_." Shark said slowly, practicing the Tsukamonian words for _promised_ , _assist_ , and _laundry_.

Caswell grinned at him. "I told you he learned fast. Great job, Shark." He didn't add that he hadn't used the female version of tasukete as he should have when talking about Tori.

"Don't criticize him unless it's absolutely necessary," Kazuma had told them. "What may seem like a harmless correction to you may be a cause for fear for him, and he might revert back to the way he was before."

Tori and Shark headed towards the back deck of the ship, which was completely open and perfect for doing laundry. Usually, it was Cathy who helped Tori, but Shark had stepped in one afternoon when the gray-haired girl had sprained her ankle. It had been his fault- he'd startled her and she'd fallen- even if both she and Yuma insisted that it wasn't. He still didn't understand why they had said that. His master's kindness astounded him, but he had expected at least a scolding for causing Cathy to be injured. Instead, he was told that it wasn't his fault when it clearly had been. Actually, lots of the things that Yuma said seemed to be blatant lies. Like telling him that he wasn't a slave, or that he should be treated the same way as a free person.

He'd ended up helping Tori that day because he'd volunteered, feeling terrible about the whole thing. Of course as soon as he did, he'd worried that his master would be angry at him for giving away his time as though he had a choice in what he did with it, but the Prince hadn't said a word. Perhaps because he knew Cathy's sprained ankle really was Shark's fault and because Tori obviously needed the help.

The laundry process on board a ship was simple but tedious. The clothes were washed with a wash board and soap in a large bucket, put through the wringing machine, and then hung on the clothesline. When washing for an entire ship, it could be a daunting task, and Tori was glad Shark had offered to help. She was secretly grateful to Shark for another reason, though. None of the sailors could say now that laundry was women's work, because as they'd worked side by side, Shark had told her how in his country, men did laundry all the time.

That afternoon had really been when Shark had started opening up, having the first conversation with someone that didn't involve begging or blubbering. Tori enjoyed working with him, hoping to continue drawing him out of his shell and find out more about his story.

Scorch and Chills were loitering around when Tori and Shark passed them. Glares were exchanged, except on Shark's part, since he kept his eyes on the ground. Watching them leave, Chills let out a growl.

"That grass-head girl really gets on my nerves," he hissed.

"Take it easy, Chills. We can't do anything to her. Not without repercussions from they're oh-so-perfect majesties." Scorch and Chills resented Emperor Kazuma- they always had- they were just careful not to let it show. The queers had always been despised by the conservative Heartlanders- in fact, only Tsukamo was even tolerant of them. Even so, they lived in poor ghettos and were basically discriminated against anywhere else.

Emperor Kazuma made it clear that he thought the queer population- both male and female- was wrong to partake in homosexual behavior, but he also claimed that they could not treat them any differently for it. "Homosexuality is not a normal crime. We can't throw them in prison and expect anything to be learned from it. We must treat them as we would anyone else, despite their misconceptions."

To Scorch and Chills, this attitude was worse than being arrested and tortured and forced to renounce their sexuality, as the practice had been for many years. Emperor Kazuma did not hate their kind. He pitied them. And that was worse.

The Emperor had hired the two queers to teach his son- and his country- about tolerance. All Scorch and Chills and learned was that it was possible to hate a man more when you thought you already hated him with all your might. Now, though, _now_ they had a way to get back at him. Everyone on the ship knew about the Barian slave and how the Emperor and the Prince were trying to "untrain" him. Most of them thought it was exciting, a way to help an unfortunate, but Scorch and Chills saw it as an opportunity.

If they played their cards right, they could destroy all of _his majesty's_ efforts and never even get caught. Of course, this meant waiting for just the right time, and Chills was getting impatient. He had been getting impatient ever since Scorch had told him they would have to be patient. It was getting steadily worse since he knew they only had a few hours to wait. The _Emperor's Key_ was going to dock in another port this evening, and as usual, the Prince and his little friends were going to go shopping. Emperor Kazuma was going with them, to keep them away from the slave markets.

The slave, however, had asked- cautiously- if he could remain behind on the ship, along with Lord Kay and a few of the sailors that needed to stay on board for security. Scorch and Chills had volunteered to be two of these, and although Emperor Kazuma had been surprised, (the two of them usually headed off to rent a hotel room for the night, since they weren't permitted to engage in any… _activities_ while on board) he had gladly given them permission and praised them for stepping up. It made them want to knock his teeth out ten times harder.

The hours passed incredibly slowly, but finally the ship docked, the infuriating royals and their friends departed, and the slave disappeared into the Prince's chambers. Chills was ready to go right then, but Scorch held him back, reminding him that they didn't want to look suspicious. When the shadows had grown longer and most of the people on board had drifted off to their rooms, they at long last went to take their revenge.

Unaware of the approaching danger, Shark was working hard on his Tsukamonian studies. The more he learned of his master's language, the more he pleased him and his friends. He wanted to learn a few more words while they were out. Even though his master hadn't made any move to punish him, despite several mistakes, Shark wasn't willing to just believe Yuma meant him no harm, and wanted to be as much on his good side as possible.

Shark looked up slowly when he heard footsteps approaching. He was never beaten for looking people in the eye, but it was a hard habit to break. He froze when he saw the two queers in the doorway. He'd never figured out what queer actually meant, but he had no desire to be alone with these two.

"Hello, Sharky," the dark-skinned one grinned at him. "My friend and I have some business to take care of that concerns you. You need to come with us."

"Why?" the word was out of his mouth before he knew it, the fear of being called impudent having dulled a while ago, but Chills quickly enflamed it again. He practically flew across the room, backhanding Shark across the mouth. The Barian fell to the floor, giving out a soft cry of pain.

"Don't talk back to us, slave. Just obey orders." Shark curled up defensively, his survival instinct taking over.

"Come with us," Scorch said again, this time turning and leaving the room. Shark would have followed on his own, but Chills was enjoying using his anger and grabbed the boy by the arm, dragging him after his partner.

The two sailors took Shark to the lowest level of the hold, where hardly anyone ever came because it only stored things that wouldn't be wanted until they returned to Tsukamo. It was dark, lit only by a single lamp. Scorch cleared a small corner near a supporting beam, building up walls of crates for concealment, just in case. Then he turned back to his prey.

"You see, Sharky, your master would lose face as the Prince if he openly punished his slave. However, he can't just let you get away with things either. So he asked us to punish you tonight, and we promised to keep it quiet. So, of you mention it to _anyone,_ your punishment will be ten times worse next time. Do you understand?"

"Ye-s-s s-sir," Shark stammered out.

Scorch grinned. This was going to be fun. "Get over here," he snarled. The slave obeyed. "Lie down on your back. No, not there! Place your head near the beam!" The slave hurried to obey, trembling. They were going to whip him on the front. He'd been punished that way before, but only once, and it was far worse than a beating on the back. "Give me the stuff, Chills."

"How come you get to go first?"

"Because it was my idea! Now give me the stuff!"

Scowling, Chills gave his partner the rope and cloth they'd brought. "I don't want to take any chances," Scorch said, grinning. "Put your hands above your head." Shark did as he was told, squeezing his eyes shut. Scorch bound his hands around the pole, preventing the slave from escaping. "Open up," he said tauntingly, forcing the cloth gag into Shark's mouth. "There's little chance anyone will hear you scream all the way down here, but I've been told I can be very rough." He cast a sly glance at Chills.

Only now did Shark understand. They were going to… He started struggling. He would accept any punishment his master would order for him, but not this, not this defilement…

Scorch slapped him across the face. "Stop your wriggling," he hissed. "Or I'll make this all the more painful." Shark wouldn't heed him. Chills, furious at his partner being so disrespected, jumped up and delivered a brutal kick to Shark's side.

"He told you to stop!"

"I can handle this slave's disobedience on my own, Chills," Scorch snapped. He began to remove his clothes, simultaneously ripping Shark's simple garments off of him. Horrified, the Barian tried to stop him, but with his bound hands, there was nothing he could do.

"That's right," Chills smirked, recognizing the anguish that the slave was feeling. "My partner's going to take you like a whore, and then I'm going to do the same. It's been a long time since we've had a fresh toy to play with."

 _Whore._ The word echoed inside Shark's mind, bringing up an incredibly painful memory.

" _Several months ago, the gracious Emperor gave me leave for a vacation. Naturally, I went to all the normal places for relaxation and pleasure- I am well acquainted with some of the best brothels in this fine country, you know. I enjoyed evenings with some of the best whores there are to be had in Astrania. One of them was quite young- a beauty with contrasting blue hair, pale skin, and pink eyes."_

" _A little while later, I discovered that that lovely creature had killed herself. A shame, really. She was a very good lay. Seems she'd been in a state of depression ever since her little sister had died of a fever. The brothel owner was more than a little bit upset at their loss; both of them were rare jewels, he'd said, and could have brought him a lot of business. As it was, he sold me this to get a little cash to compensate."_

" _This had belonged to the older of the sisters. I bought it to help my friend out- losing two whores within a couple of moons is horrible business, you know. Imagine my surprise when I found an almost identical ring on the floor of his majesty's banqueting hall."_

" _After asking around, I discovered it was yours. That poor slut wouldn't happen to be a relative of yours, would she?"_

Violent tremors shook Shark's body as he remembered. He deserved this. He deserved it over and over and over again for what had happened to his sisters. He ceased his struggling. There was no point anyway. But no matter how much he told himself he deserved the rape, the slave still didn't want it. He didn't want the feeling of filth as his body was touched.

 _Some big brother you are. You won't even willingly bear what your sister had to live with._ The voice in his head was back.

Lord Kay was looking over some translations that Shark had done in the room he shared with Caswell. The boy had quite a gift for languages; even most of the grammar was correct. There was one mistake, though, that kept appearing, no matter which language the passage had been translated from originally. Shark used the male form of verbs no matter whom he was referring to. Deciding that now would be a perfect opportunity to approach the boy with it (They were both alone, after all), Lord Kay headed down to Prince's Yuma's room, which was on the level below.

When he found the room empty, his suspicions were immediately aroused. Shark had been growing more relaxed around Yuma and his friends the past few weeks, but there was no way he'd suddenly up and decided to go wandering around the ship without permission. Lord Kay hurried back up on deck, searching for anyone who might have seen something. The first person he came across was a sailor who had made a bed out of netting that was waiting for repairs. He had pulled his cap over his eyes, and he was rudely interrupted from falling asleep when it was snatched off.

"Hey, what- Oh, I'm sorry, my Lord. I didn't realize it was you."

"That's quite alright. Tell me, have you seen Shark at all this evening?"

"The Barian? Only when he was saying goodbye to the Prince and his friends. Why?"

"I can't find him. He's so cautious that I know he hasn't gone off on his own."

The sailor's eyes widened. "You don't think Scorch or Chills had anything to do with it, do you?"

"Scorch and Chills?"

"Yeah. They were heading into that part of the ship a few minutes ago. I thought it was odd, seeing as the sleeping bay is in the opposite direction. Hey, are you alright, my Lord? I could get you some water-"

"No, thank you," Lord Kay had turned pale. "Right now it is of great consequence that we find Scorch, Chills, and Shark immediately. Gather who you can find and search the ship. Hurry!" The sailor hurried off, and Lord Kay wasted no time on starting his own search. He grabbed a thick rope to use as a weapon just in case; both Scorch and Chills were a lot bigger and taller than he was, and he wasn't going to count on them being reasonable.

Scorch had stopped with the foreplay and was getting ready to complete the act of rape. Several bruises already stood out against Shark's pale skin as he lay helpless, bound to the beam and gagged as well. His shirt had been ripped off, but Scorch still had to remove his other article of clothing.

Rebellion seized Shark, his body overruling the voice inside his head. He couldn't let this happen; no matter how much he deserved it, _he didn't want this._

 _Coward! Coward!_ The voice screamed, but Shark wasn't thinking anymore. He was fighting. Fighting to retain the last shred of dignity he had.

"Hold still, slave!" Scorch shouted, grabbing the boy's ankles and pinning them to the floor with his huge fists. Still, Shark would not stop thrashing against him. Scorch was considering using his teeth to subdue his prey (both his hands were occupied) when a voice suddenly growled,

"Step away from him. NOW!" Chills jumped up from where he had sat down to watch and whirled around to see the Prince's school teacher standing in front of them. Scorch and Chills may have gagged Shark, but they had forgotten about being quiet after that. Once he'd entered the hold, it hadn't been all that difficult for Lord Kay to locate them, and anger at what they had been about to do had squelched any fear he had of the two degenerates.

For a moment, the two partners were two surprised to do anything. Then, a smirk slowly worked its way onto Chills's face. "Or you'll do what, Professor?" The rope Lord Kay had grabbed up on deck lashed out and caught the pale man's arm, leaving a red welt in its wake. "What the-"

"Get away from him! Get back, both of you! Back! Back!" Brandishing the rope like a whip, Lord Kay forced Scorch and Chills away from Shark and all the way up to the main deck. It was slow going, since there were three flights of stairs to climb and the two queers weren't being very cooperative, but they were soon out in the open.

By this time, the two would-be rapists were pretty scared. It was not every day a crazy, small-statured teacher came at you with a bit of string. "Lock these two in the brig!" Lord kay ordered the sailors who had come running at the commotion.

"My Lord! What's happened?"

"What's going on?" Questions came from all sides.

"I caught these two attempting to…to _violate_ Shark. Lock them up!"

There was a shocked silence. For most of the sailors, the idea of a boy being…assaulted in such a way- well, it was barely plausible. Anger and indignation rose up in the group, and the two offenders were dragged away in a frenzy. Unfortunately, for many of the men that were present that evening, no homosexual would ever again be above suspicion.

Shark was petrified. True, he was no longer being raped, but why had Lord Kay stopped them? Surely his master's tutor knew that Shark had been disobedient was receiving a well-deserved punishment, ordered by his master. Was he going to come back and use the whip he'd had to finish the punishment?

Shark began to shake when he heard hurried footsteps on the stairs. He had been a fool to think that his master had treated him so well out of the kindness of his heart. Of course, it was to keep up the appearance of a kind and generous Prince. He was an idiot for thinking otherwise.

Lord Kay rushed to the Barian boy's side and began fumbling to untie him. "I'm so sorry, Shark. I'm so sorry." He pulled the gag out of the purplette's mouth and helped him to his feet, draping a blanket over him to provide some decency. "Come with me." Lord Kay guided him towards the stairs. "Everything's going to be alright, Shark, I promise." The teacher escorted Shark to the bathing room and filled the tub with warm water. "Scrub yourself clean. As many times and as long as you want."

Left alone to clean himself, Shark collapsed into a heap of self-loathing. He remembered. He remembered whom he had hurt. And the guilt was unbearable.

Emperor Kazuma and the six young people returned to find the entire ship in chaos. "Your majesty! Your majesty!" Six sailors began talking all at once, even though none of them had actually been there to see anything to tell.

Managing to get the gist of what had happened, the Tsukamonian ruler began looking frantically around for his friend, hoping the matter could be explained in more detail. "Kay? Kay! What the devil is going on? What's happened to Shark?"

Emperor Kazuma and the six young people returned to find the entire ship in chaos. "Your majesty! Your majesty!" Six sailors began talking all at once, even though none of them had actually been there to see anything to tell.

"Scorch and Chills tried to rape him, Kazuma." There were gasps of horror from Yuma and his friends, who had pushed their way forward so as not to miss anything, their amrs full of forgotten purchases.

"Rape?" Kazuma was appalled.

"Yes. I've never been so horrified, Kazuma, never. Thank goodness I got there in time. They didn't go all the way, but they certainly intended to."

Emperor Kazuma's face was grave. "Where are Scorch and Chills now?"

"I had them locked in the brig."

"Good, good." Kazuma turned towards his son and the other young people, who were standing nearby in a stunned stupor. "I think it's time for you all to go to bed. It's been a long day."

"But what about Shark, Dad? Can I see him?" Yuma looked more distraught than he had in a long time. _I never should have left him here alone._

"I told you those two creeps were no good," Tori said, scowling.

Kazuma held up his hand. "I don't want any of you getting the idea that all homosexuals are rapists," he said. "Too many problems in this world come from people making assumptions and being prejudiced. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir." All six of them chorused.

"Yuma, you can speak with Shark, but I don't think we'll be able to get him to sleep tonight, and I will _not_ have you staying up late with him. Do you understand?"

"But, Dad-"

"But nothing. I want you all in bed."

"Yes, sir." From the look on the Emperor's face, the six friends knew he wasn't joking. They trudged off to bed, each of them lost in their own thoughts, except for Yuma, who refused to go to bed until he at least got to speak with Shark.

The purplette was sitting in the corner of Kazuma's study, wrapped in a blanket. His hair was still damp from the bath, and he was staring blankly at nothing.

"Shark?" Yuma whispered, afraid of startling him. "Are you alright?"

It took a while for Shark to notice the Prince's arrival, and when he did, the reaction was terrifying. Shark threw himself to the ground, pressing his forehead to the floor, and began stammering out apologies.

"Shark!" Yuma cried, trying desperately to get him off the floor, "Shark, what's wrong? What are you sorry for?"

"I never meant to displease you, Master. Ple-please. I will accept any punishment you want to pass on me, but please don't let those men touch me again. Please. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

"Punishment? Shark, I'm not going to punish you for something that wasn't your fault. And I'm not going to let Scorch and Chills hurt you again. I'm the one who should be sorry. I wasn't here to protect you."

"But…but they said you'd asked them to punish me," Shark whimpered, trembling.

" _WHAT?_ Shark, I promise, I never said that. I never wanted you to get hurt. Please don't believe that I did."

It took a while, but Yuma eventually managed to get Shark to calm down. The boy drifted off into a doze, and Yuma took the opportunity to slip away. It was almost one a.m.; his father wasn't going to be happy.

"It's not fair, Dad," Yuma said as he stumbled back to his rooms. He was so tired that the Emperor was practically carrying him. "He was exactly the way he was before. It's as if all those weeks of being kind and gentle with him meant nothing at all."

Kazuma sighed heavily. "I think that's what Scorch and Chills had in mind," he said. He'd gone to question the two queers himself and had been shocked at how much they resented him. Apparently he wasn't doing as good a job of promoting equality as he'd thought. Kazuma still believed homosexuality was wrong, but it was the _act_ he despised, not the people who thought it was their only way to happiness.

But that aside, what Yuma said was true. They were now back to square one.

 **Next time on** _ **A Tale of Two Slaves:**_ **Yuma finds something that might help Shark to recover.**


	7. Duel?

"Are you sure you don't want some more?"

"No, thank you, Master." Yuma sighed and put the bowl of rice down. Shark had been like this for the past few days- flat and blank. He went through the motions automatically, doing whatever was asked of him immediately. When no one needed him, he stayed in the corner, silent and with eyes downcast. He flinched when anyone-even Tori or Cathy-went to touch him.

Yuma's father said this was normal for victims of sexual assault and that they were just going to have to be patient. It was driving Yuma crazy. They had been so close- Shark had been opening up to them, being a bit more confident- and now he could hardly get anything out of him except "Yes, Master," and "No, Master."

He wouldn't even do anything without being directly told to.

"Shark, could you help Bronk with the dishes, please? When you're done, you can come back to our room."

"Yes, Master." Shark got up and began collecting some of the dirty dishes, carrying them over to the sink.

Dejectedly, Yuma headed back to his cabin, wishing with all his might there was something different he could do. He flopped down on the bed and stared morbidly at the ceiling. "It's so unfair," he said, summing up his feelings in three words. He rolled over onto his stomach and let his eyes wander around the room idly. Shark had organized it for him- "As a sign of my gratitude," he'd said- but to be honest Yuma couldn't quite get the hang of finding things when they weren't lying around somewhere on the floor.

His eyes fell on a stack of wooden cards, and suddenly he was up and thinking hard. Maybe there was something he could do differently.

Shark's monotonous behavior would never have clued anyone in to the turmoil going on inside of him. Ever since recovering the memory of his little sister, he didn't know what he was supposed to be anymore. He deserved to suffer- he wanted to suffer for what he had done; to make it hurt as much on the outside as it did on the inside. It had been easy when he had belonged to Chironex- there had never been any shortage of physical pain there. Now, though, his new master- Prince Yuma- would never make an attempt to hurt him. Somehow, deep down, Shark had always known this.

Yuma treated him like an equal, and Shark couldn't stand it. He deserved none of the kindness he had received at the hands of Yuma and his friends. If he could have believed what Scorch and Chills had said- that Yuma would not punish him on his own for the sake of his reputation- it would have been more bearable, but this…this unconditional mercy was _maddening._

On the other hand, his sister- whatever his life had been before (he still couldn't remember a lot of the details, nor did he want to after the pain one memory had caused him) - it might not even matter anymore. His soul purpose now was to please his master. Chironex had beaten that into him often enough. Shark knew his master wasn't pleased with how he'd been acting since the attempted rape. Maybe that should be his main concern.

Why? Why did he have to remember? Why couldn't he go back to the blissful ignorance he had known before, when his greatest concerns had been avoiding a beating and getting his next meal?

Bronk had watched the almost catatonic boy next to him as they'd washed dishes together, his heart aching. He missed the boy he had gotten to know over the past few weeks, the one who had begun teaching him Barian recipes.

"We're done here, Shark. You can head back to your room." Without a word, Shark dried ahis hands and left, his shoulders hunched and drooping. Bronk watched him go, sighing heavily. Like Yuma, he wished there was something different he could do.

Yuma had been working in a frenzy while Shark was helping Bronk with the dishes- something that was rarely seen by members of the Tsukamonian court.

"Yuma!" Tori was becoming exasperated with all his running around, "Yuma, what are you doing? What's the big hurry?"

"I want to finish this before Shark and Bronk are done in the kitchen."

"Finish what, exactly?"

"I'm setting up a duel, Tori," the Prince said like it should have been obvious.

Looking, Tori could indeed see that a duel playing fields had been set up on a table in a sunny corner of the ship. Ready to play were two decks, one of which was Yuma's favorite, and the other of which was- "Sharks?" She asked in surprise.

"Yeah. I just remembered I had this deck and thought that Shark might like to play."

"How are you going to get him to play Duel Monsters?" Tori asked skeptically. "He won't do anything unless you tell him to. What are you going to do, dictate his moves to him?"

"I- I have to try, Tori. Dueling is a way friends can understand each other more- bond with each other. We've all become better friends because of dueling, don't you see? If I duel Shark, maybe I'll be able to understand him better, and maybe- maybe he's come to understand that I only want to help him."

Tori sighed. "I know," she said. "You have to at least try."

Yuma grinned at her. "Thanks, Tori."

Shark returned to the cabin he shared with his master and sat down on his window seat, resting his head against the glass and staring down at the blue depths below. Watching the ocean always helped calm his inner turmoil. He wondered dimly where his master was.

There were running footsteps in the corridor and the object of his thoughts burst into the room. "Oh, good, you're here," Yuma said breathlessly. "Come on up on deck. There's something I want to show you." Wordlessly, Shark followed the Prince to where the duel was set up. "I thought I could teach you how to play Duel monsters. That way, on slower days, we can play together. My friends and I have been playing together for several years now."

Sharks stared blankly at the cards in front of him. "Go on, sit down," Yuma encouraged him. "I'll explain everything. The big pile of cards is your deck, and the smaller pile is your extra deck. First, we each draw five cards." Yuma picked up the five cards on the top of his deck and waited for Shark to do the same. "Now it's time to duel."

"Duel?" Shark asked in perplexity.

"Yeah. Whoever's turn it is gets to draw a card. I'll go first. I draw!" He added another card to his hand. "Then you get to make your move. I'll play Ga-ga-ga Magician in attack mode."

The duel progressed slowly, with Yuma stopping to explain his every move. Nevertheless, a duel was always interesting, and this one attracted its fair share of viewers. To the onlookers, Shark didn't seem to be paying much attention, but in truth he was absorbing every word. It was one of those strange phenomena where, whether you wanted to or not, you found yourself drawn in and paying rapt attention laced with fascination.

Shark grasped the game quickly, but he was hesitant to make use of his understanding. His master seemed to be enjoying explaining everything to him. Gradually, though, Shark found himself unable to resist. He forgot where he was and just focused on the duel; thinking hard about his every move and how to out-strategize Yuma. It wasn't actually that difficult.

The audience could tell that a change had come over the Barian duelist. His movements were more alive, more interested. At times, he even seemed to be about to smile, but he never did. Yuma soon found himself struggling to hold his own, never mind explaining the rules and how to play.

"I overlay and in order to xyz summon!" There was a sparkle in Shark's eyes, something that hadn't even been there before the attempted rape. It was the same look Tori had thought she'd imagined before. The entire group of viewer was on the edge of its seat (metaphorically speaking, since most of them were standing). What had started as a training session was now a hair-raising match.

"An xyz summon?" Yuma was stunned. "But I didn't teach you how to do that!"

"I read the instructions on the card," Shark said, a hint of pride in his tone. It was the first time he had shown any kind of feeling of self-confidence. Shark's mind hadn't been so active in a long time, and he was on a kind of dopamine high. Of course, no one would discover dopamine for another few hundred years. Shark's mind was calculating rapidly. If he attacked, Yuma's monster, with, it make a dent in the other's life points, but if he used special ability… Shark froze. What was he thinking? He couldn't prove superior to his master, even in a game.

It was his master whom he was playing. He had forgotten in his excitement. This was the person that owned him, who controlled every aspect of his life. He dared not do anything that wasn't subservient to him. Undoubtedly, his master had only wanted to teach him this game to have an opponent who couldn't defeat him. Frantically, Shark began calculating in the opposite direction- how was he going to lose?

"I…I switch to defense mode and end my turn."

 _Defense mode?_ Yuma was puzzled. Why hadn't Shark attacked him? _There must be something he's playing at. Oh, well, I'll just destroy his before he has a chance to spring his trap._ "Alright, my turn! I draw! Now, attack his!" Shark made no move to defend, and his monster was destroyed. He took no damage, though, since it had been in defense mode. "Oh, and I attack with my." Yuma had almost forgotten about the, which was also on his field. Shark breathed out a sigh of relief- with that attack, his life points had dropped to zero. He had lost. "Oh, man, I won!" Yuma grinned. "Great game, Shark." He stuck out his hand to his opponent. Shark reached out and hesitantly shook it, doing his best to give a good handshake. (Handshakes were something new to him; no one 'shook hands' in Baria).

"I'm glad it pleased you, Master," he said. "May I- may I go back to the room now?"

"Sure, go ahead." Shark hastily stood up and made his way through the crowd, desperately wanting to get away from all the curious eyes following him. After a while, most of them shrugged it off and drifted back to their various corners, seeing no reason to stay because now the excitement was over.

"Well, that was unexpected," Caswell said. Tori nodded in agreement. Something was nagging in the back of her mind, and she couldn't ignore it. It was the sudden change in Shark's countenance- something must have triggered it. She picked up the xyz monster Shark had played- -.

"Yuma, look at this!"

"Hm? What is it, Tori?"

"This monster has a special ability where the player it's used against will take 400 points of damage for every card the player who put it down had in their hand." Caswell peered over her shoulder, first at the card, and then at the place where Shark had laid down his cards before taking off.

"He had six cards in his hand! That's 2400 points of damage. If Shark had used that ability, Yuma would have lost."

"So…why didn't he?" Yuma asked, baffled. The friends exchanged glances.

"I think he was afraid to win," Tori said finally.

Shark was back on the window seat, staring desperately down at the ocean. His heart was pounding with his narrow escape. _So close…too close._ If he had succeeded in defeating the Prince, what would the punishment have been? A beating probably. The loss of a meal or two, perhaps. And more importantly, what was he going to do if he had to play again? Would he be able to keep his head, or would he forget himself like he had today?

Lost in his thoughts, Shark didn't notice Yuma had come into the room until he tapped him on the shoulder. Startled, Shark looked up, only to quickly get to his knees upon recognizing his owner. "Master!"

"Shark, please, get up." The purplette didn't budge, so Yuma grabbed him by the arms and hauled him back onto the window seat before sitting down next to him. "We need to have a talk, Shark." Yuma didn't often get so serious, and his tone was enough to make Shark nervous.

"I'm sorry, Master, have I done something to displease you?" He waited, trembling, for the answer.

"Yes, Shark, you did. You threw the duel." Seeing that the Barian didn't comprehend this, he explained, "You lost on purpose- you let me win. Why did you do that?"

"I- I did not want you to lose Master. And I would never be so presumptuous as to try and defeat you myself."

"You didn't want me to lose? Shark, I lose all the time. In fact, the ability to lose is what makes people interesting. My Dad says that, and he's never wrong." Shark didn't say anything. "Shark, look at me." Yuma's tone was commanding now- the first time Shark had ever heard that from him- and he didn't dare disobey.

Yuma looked him straight in the eye. "I don't want you to call me master. I'm _not_ your master; I don't own you, you're not my slave. I want you to call me Yuma, because we're friends. You and I are equals, Shark. Do you understand that?"

Shark was shaking violently. This couldn't be happening. There was no possible way to reconcile what Yuma was saying with what he already knew.

"I- I'm so-sorry, Master. Please, let me try again to please you-"

"I don't want you to please me!" Yuma jumped up. "Why can't you grasp that? I just want to be your friend. I only want to help you."

Shark slid to the floor, pressed his forehead against Yuma's shoes, and began stammering out apologies. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"

Yuma took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. He was only frightening Shark more. He was a fool for yelling at him in the first place. "It's alright, Shark, it's alright. I'm not angry at you. I'm angry at the people that did _this_ to you." He let out a long sight before kneeling down next to the Barian boy. "You know what you can do to please me, Shark?" He asked, placing a steadying hand on his back. "Next time you duel- whoever your opponent is- I want you to do your best to win."

"To win?" Shark wasn't exactly sure how to take this.

"Yeah. You could be a great duelist- you learn really fast. You should have beaten me. And when you're dueling, I only want you to try and win. Forget about everything else and just focus on the duel. Can you do that?"

 _Could he do that?_ It would be almost too easy. He hadn't even realized he'd been doing it. "If it will please you, Master."

With his head bowed, Shark didn't see the look of sadness that crossed Yuma's face.

 **Next time on** _ **A Tale of Two Slaves:**_ **The** _ **Emperor's Key**_ **lands in a familiar port…with a few familiar faces hanging about.**


	8. The Port of Espen, part 1

"There it is, Shark- the Port of Espen!" Yuma was standing on the rail of the ship, clinging tightly to the front mast. Shark was just behind him, his feet planted firmly on the deck. The Port of Espen was a gleaming spot on the coastline of Tsukamo. Having sailed through the Southern Isles, the crew of the _Emperor's Key_ was now steering her back north- towards the capital- every once in a while coming to a port where they would stop to get new supplies. The Port of Espen would be one of those stops. It would also be the first time Shark had been off the ship since the Southern Isles.

It was also the stop Yuma and his friends had been looking forward to the most. Many friends of the Tsukamo royal family lived in Espen, and there were all sorts of advantages to knowing them. Yuma especially wanted to introduce Shark to them, for more than one reason. He hadn't yet revealed what those reasons were, though. "It's a surprise," he'd said. Surprises made Shark nervous.

Pushing thoughts of surprises out of his mind, Shark focused instead on the shining shore that was coming nearer and nearer. "It's so…bright," he whispered.

"Of course it is!" Yuma grinned at him. "The Port of Espen is the only city in Tsukamo to have buildings made of metal."

"Of metal?" Shark had never heard of such a thing.

"Yeah. The guy who founded the city was a real genius, but people just thought he was crazy so they threw him out of any city he tried to live in. So, he built his own city and made the buildings of metal. Well, most of them anyway. There are some that were built with the traditional wood and stone."

"Yuma!"

"Whoa! Hey! Whaaa…" Shark just managed to keep Yuma from hitting the deck by catching him, but it was close.

"Tori! You could have seriously hurt me!"

"Sorry, but you shouldn't be standing on the railing in the first place. Lord Kay's warned us about how dangerous that can be."

Yuma scowled. "Well, what do you want?"

"I just wanted to ask if we could visit Anna first this time, instead of running off to the restaurants."

"Actually, Tori, that's already the plan. I want Anna to meet Shark. I think she'll be able to help him out."

For a moment Tori looked confused, but then her face cleared. "Oh, of course! It is about time you did something about it, Yuma. I'll go and tell Cathy. This is the first time she'll be visiting Anna's place, too, you know." Tori hurried off, leaving Shark very apprehensive.'

It is about time you did something about it, Yuma. Did something about what, exactly? He heard Yuma laugh next to him and jumped.

"Don't look so worried, Shark. Anna may be a bit blunt, but she's not scary." Shark just nodded. He didn't dare contradict his master, after all, unless they were dueling. They'd had several matches since the first one, and Shark had won every time. He'd never been punished for it, either, and though he couldn't fathom why, he wasn't going to question his amster and risk getting punished for that.

The Port of Espen was very crowded. When he first stepped off the ship, Shark was overcome of the illusion of riding on high waves, since there was so much movement and his legs had become accustomed to having a moving ship beneath them. He swayed back and forth a little and looked around in bewilderment.

"Don't worry, Shark. Just follow us," Bronk told him. Because of the crowds, Shark couldn't keep his eyes lowered, as was his habit, for fear of losing his master and the others in the throngs. He was painfully aware of the stares and whispers that he was receiving from passers-by, but they were soon drowned by all the other noises and faces in the crowd, and he had no time to contemplate them.

He didn't have time to stop and gape at the giant metal sculptures and structures, either. His master hurried him along the streets. "Dad's expecting us at Lady Andrews's at 12:00," he'd explained. "I don't want to miss the whirlpool." This meant nothing to Shark, but he hurried along as fast as he could anyway. He didn't want to get lost and then punished for running away- or worse, get picked up by another slave trader. Shark had no way of knowing that, since slavery was illegal in Tsukamo, there weren't any slave traders in Espen.

Finally, then group reached its destination, and Shark couldn't stop his mouth from dropping. He'd never seen anything like this in his entire life. Everywhere were different clothing displays- both men's and women's- in big display cases, on racks, even on life-like mannequins.

"What in the name of the five islands-" Yuma and the others turned, startled, to stare at him. Shark was so surprised he had forgotten where he was and had spoken in his native Salkie instead of Heartlandish. "I-I'm sorry, Master-"

Shark's apology was interrupted, for once, not by Yuma, but by a streak of pink flying past him and straight at the Prince.

"You're here! Yuma, you're here! You're finally here!"

"Hey, Anna! How've you been?"

"How've I been? I've been going crazy waiting for you to get here, that's how! But now you're here! You're finally here!"

"Yeah, I'm here."

"And so are the rest of us," Tori said, her voice rather tight and her face rather red, and not just because of being ignored, either. Cathy, too, looked uncomfortable.

"Oh, Tori, Cathy, Caswell, Flip and Bronk! You all came to see me! Welcome, welcome! I have some new things in the back I think you'll just love- but, I don't know this one, Yuma. Is he a new member of your group?" Anna had met all of Yuma's friends before at the palace, but only Tori and Yuma had ever visited her in her home town of Espen.

"Yeah. Anna, this is Shark. He's a Barian, and-"

"A _Barian?_ " Anna's went wide. "A Barian in my store! I never thought I'd see the day! Where'd you meet him, Yuma? Where'd he come from?"

"Uh, Anna…" Yuma glanced at Shark, who looked like he was wound up to spring out of there if just given the chance. He gestured Anna closer and whispered, "Shark is a slave I bought in the Southern Isles. He's been through a lot and he's not really…normal. He doesn't act like the rest of us. And he doesn't understand Tsukamonian too well, so you'll have to speak Heartlandish around him."

"Yuma, if he can't understand us, why are we whispering?"

"Uh…I don't know."

Shark was petrified. He couldn't understand anything of what his master, the girl Anna, and Tori were saying, so he'd had to go by the tone of their voices. Tori seemed annoyed, Anna seemed excited, and Yuma was explaining something. He'd caught the words _Shark_ and _Barian,_ so he knew they had been discussing him, but why? It couldn't be that Yuma was going to…to give him away to this Anna girl, could it?

Meanwhile, Yuma had finished explaining the real reason why he'd brought Shark here. "Oh, I see!" Anna exclaimed. "Of course, I'll be glad to." She turned to the others. "Feel free to browse, guys. I'm going to help Yuma with finding some things for Shark." She turned back to Yuma. "Shark- is that his real name?"

Yuma shrugged. "We don't know. That's what he said he wanted to be called."

"Interesting." Anna turned her attention to Shark and switched from Tsukamonian to Heartlandish. "Hi, there. I'm Anna, and you're Shark, right?"

Shark's entire body jerked and trembled, as though expecting some great pain to descend on him. It was a simple mistake, really. Anna had used the Heartlandish word for Shark, _Hai_ \- the word he had been taught to fear by Chironex.

"Oh, we still use the Tsukamonian word, _Shayu,_ for his name," Yuma said hastily.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Your name is _Shayu_ , not _Hai_?"

 _Shayu_ began to calm down, taking deep breaths. He'd shown the right reaction; they weren't going to beat him. It was alright.

Once Shark was calm, and Anna had gotten over her shock at his behavior, she began her routine of helping a new customer. She circled around him slowly, examining his features. "Very pale, but with contrasting dark hair…" she murmured. "We don't want anything too bright, then."

Yuma grinned. "Anna is an expert, Shark. She knows exactly what she's doing." Anna blushed and modestly denied it, but anyone could see that she was secretly pleased. She once again came to stand directly in front of Shark.

"I'm going to need to see your eyes to complete my evaluation," she said. Shark didn't move. _Evaluation?_ Was his master trying to figure out how much he was worth?

"It's alright, Shark, show her your eyes," Yuma reassured him. Slowly, the Barian looked up. Anna gasped.

"Such blue… I've never seen such a shade of eyes! I imagine he drew quite a few stares outside I don't think any other person in Tsukamo has eyes of this color." Shark remembered the looks and whispers from the street. Had that all been because of the color of his eyes?

"Well, Shark, not many people on Tsukamo have your coloring, but I think I can find something for you." _Something for me?_ Shark wondered, then realized he had spoken aloud.

"Yeah," Yuma nodded. "We're here to get some decent clothes for you, Shark. You can't go around forever in Bronk's too-big shirts and my too-small pants."

Shark turned bright red. _It is about time you did something about it, Yuma... I have some new things in the back I think you'll just love…_ He felt incredibly stupid. "Oh, Master, the clothes you gave me are fine. I have no complaints with them; I'm sorry if I seemed discontent-"

"Stop, stop, stop!" Yuma waved his arms above his head to hold off Shark's apologies. "I'm not going to let you go around in borrowed clothes all the time, Shark, and that's final. No arguments."

"Yes, Master," Shark said meekly.

Anna stared. _So this is what he meant by 'not normal'..._ "I'll go and get my tape measure," she said after an awkward silence.

Anna Kaboom loved her job, and she performed it with vigor. For the next two hours, she searched through piles, racks, boxes, and shelves of merchandise. "Maroon, purple, black, gray-maybe some white- and definitely dark blue to match his eyes," she said. "No bright warm colors or neon green. Hm… maybe aqua green, though."

After finding things she thought would work, Shark was told to try them on. He was in and out of the dressing room at least two dozen times, with shoes, pants, belts, jackets, shirts of all kinds- even a few hats. "Only plain straw hats suit you," Anna decided. Sometimes, the clothes would be the right color but not the right size, other times they would be the right size but the wrong color. Shark had never imagined that getting new clothes could be so complicated. Then again, he'd never actually been shopping in his life.

By 11:30, Shark had five new outfits (Anna gave him strict instructions on what could and couldn't be worn with what) all packed up and ready to go. "You're the best, Anna," Yuma beamed as he paid her.

"Of course, of course. And, as usual, your purchases are half-off."

"If I kiss you."

"If you kiss me." Yuma quickly pecked her on the cheek, his ears bright red.

Shark looked away, embarrassed. Just when he thought he had his master figured out, something like this happened. New clothes! Who in their right mind spent so much money (even if it was half-price) on clothes for a slave when they could dress them in rags for next to nothing? It was becoming clear to Shark that Prince Yuma of Tsukamo was not entirely…normal.

 **Next time on** _ **A Tale of Two Slaves:**_ **Yuma comes face to face with a horrifying fact about Shark's past.**


	9. The Port of Espen, part 2

Yuma let Shark leave Anna's boutique in his old clothes, much to the Barian's relief. He wasn't sure how he felt about the new clothes. He would wear them, of course, to please his master, but still… Shark shook his head quickly to erase such thoughts from his mind. Yuma had remarked that it would be better for him to change into the new clothes after a visit to something called a 'bathhouse.' This introduced a whole new set of worries for the slave. A _bathhouse?_ Who used an entire house to take a bath?

Yuma led him through the crowded streets to a large building made of stone and marble that smelled very…interesting. Shark had never encountered a building that _smelled_ strongly of anything. Yuma took a deep breath and sighed happily.

"Lady Andrews's bathhouse is the best in Tsukamo," he said. "Can you smell the perfumes, the minerals, and the soaps?" he turned towards Shark and saw the apprehensive look on the pale boy's face. "Don't worry, Shark, all you going to do is take a bath."

 _Can't I do that on the ship?_ Shark wondered as he followed Yuma into the large structure. "Nelson! Hey, Nelson!" A boy with light blue hair looked up from the shampoo bottles he was arranging and broke into a huge grin.

"Yuma! Hang on a minute; I'll be right there." While they waited, Shark looked around himself in astonishment. In the center of the large room they had entered, there was a large pool full of people laughing and splashing together. Along the walls were products of all sorts. There were two other passageways further into the building, one on the right and one on the left. There were intricate carvings on the walls and ceiling, and in every corner there were vines and ferns adding a fresh sense to the whole place.

Nelson finished what he was doing and hurried over towards his friend, wiping his hands on a cloth that he then slid into his pocket. "Yuma it's been too long!"

"I know! When did we last see each other?" Yuma asked, embracing his friend.

"Oh, about a month before you left, I think. But you promised you'd come to visit on the return voyage, and now you're here!"

"Yep. Have my Dad and Lord Kay arrived yet? They wanted me to meet them here."

"Yeah. They just went up to your usual place- the pool on the third floor." It was then that Nelson noticed Shark. "Who is this, Yuma?"

Yuma quickly explained about Shark, giving all the details Anna had asked for, and a bit more, before switching to Heartlandish for introductions. "Shark, this is Nelson Andrews. He's Lady Andrews's son and he helps run this place. Nelson, this is Shark."

Shark, his head already bowed, gave a nod in Nelson's direction. "Pleased to meet you," Nelson said, extending his hand. After a moment's hesitation, Shark accepted and shook it.

"Prince Yuma! It's about time you got here." The three boys jumped and turned to see a tall, imposing woman with purple hair, dressed in a long blue dress and wearing swinging earrings.

"Mom!" Nelson exclaimed in surprise.

"Hey, Lady Andrews," Yuma had quickly recovered himself. "How are you?"

"I'm very well your highness, thank you," Lady Andrews gave him a polite nod. "And this must be Shark," she said. "Your father told me all about him. Welcome to the Sparrow Inn and Bathhouse, Shark." _So that's how she knew to speak Heartlandish with him,_ Yuma thought.

"Th- thank you, my lady," Shark stammered out, completely caught off guard.

"Your highness, your father and Lord Kay are already upstairs in their usual room. We'll be turning the whirlpool on in a few minutes, so I suggest you hurry on up there." Lady Andrews's eyes were twinkling with mischief.

"Ah! You can't turn it on until I'm ready! I've got to get up there!" He was about to rush off when he remembered Shark. "Nelson, Lady Andrews, you guys will look after Shark for me, right?"

"Of course, you highness."

"Thanks! Shark, just do whatever they tell you; you'll be fine." With that, Yuma dashed off, leaving a bewildered Barian in the hands of virtual strangers.

"Don't worry, Shark; Emperor Kazuma has explained everything to me," Lady Andrews said. Her initial fierceness was gone, replaced only with a gentle smile. "We only want you to be comfortable and relaxed while you're here, and he thought you'd be more so in private than in a big, open pool with the rest of them."

Shark started very hard at the floor. He was a _slave,_ for crying out loud! Why should anyone _care_ if he was comfortable or not?

"I'll be taking care of you, Shark, so if you need anything, just ask me," Nelson said.

"Yes, please do," Lady Andrews agreed. "Be careful and very gentle with him, Nelson," she whispered to her son in Tsukamonian, before heading off to check on her other guests.

"Come with me, Shark. I'll show you to one of our private rooms." Warily, Shark followed Nelson down the right passageway, further into the bathhouse. The air was pleasantly steamy and full of different scents, but Shark couldn't allow himself to relax. He had no idea what to expect.

Nelson finally led him up a few steps into an alcove, drawing aside a curtain to reveal a smaller room with a sunken tub in the middle of it. Along the wall was a rack of different products, and pushed into one corner was a bed of sorts. Hanging on a hook near the tub was a blue robe, the kind you wore after taking a bath. Shark gaped. What was he _doing_ here?

"Because they thought you'd be more comfortable by yourself than with the entire group, while they go swimming upstairs, you get to take a bath on your own right here." Nelson pointed to the rack of shampoos, conditioners, and soaps. "You should be able to find everything you need in lavender scent there. Lord Kay says that lavender is your favorite."

Shark turned bright red. He always used lavender on the ship; he hadn't realized it had become noticeable. Nelson either didn't notice Shark's embarrassment or chose not to acknowledge it. He opened a cabinet Shark hadn't noticed before, revealing more necessities.

"You can use a sponge or a washcloth to clean yourself if you want. Use as many towels as you need. When you're done, pull that cord by the entrance." He pointed back towards where they'd come in. "I'll here the bell it rings and come back with your new clothes so that you can change- after I give you a massage. Yuma insisted that I give you one, like he usually gets when he comes here."

Nelson took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair. "Well, that's everything. Oh, here- I'll turn the Jacuzzi on for you." Nelson turned a wheel on the wall just above the tub, and the water in it surged to life, swirling and bubbling.

Shark leapt backwards, alarmed at this new development. Nelson laughed. "It's alright, Shark. It's just jets and turbines stirring up the water to make it more soothing. The frothiness comes from the minerals in the water. That's one of the reasons the Sparrow Bathhouse is so popular- we're built right over several natural mineral springs."

With that last bit of information, Nelson departed, leaving Shark on his own. The Barian knew he wasn't worthy of such luxuries, but he also knew his master must have spent a lot of money so that he could have this special bath, and who knew how he would be punished if he wasted it? Besides, the water did look nice…

Shark quickly stripped and lowered himself into the tub. He gasped at the pleasurable feeling of the water swirling around him, almost unconsciously sinking in all the way up to his neck. Shark's eyes slid closed and his muscles relaxed involuntarily. He had never had a bath quite like this before, not even before he'd become a slave.

Nelson had never met a slave before, let alone a Barian, and he had been bursting to ask so many questions- What is it like being a slave? Are you glad to be with Yuma now? What's Baria like? -and so on, but Shark's behavior, as well as his own mother's advice, had stopped him. He could only guess at what Shark had actually been through, though he was sure it was horrific.

Living further south than Yuma and his friends, and also having access to a place where people from all over Heartland came to visit, Nelson knew more about slavery and its brutalities than they did. He had examined Shark for signs of beatings and abuse and had noticed the fading scars on his arms and wrists- the only part of Shark's skin that was visible except his face. In truth, everyone on the _Emperor's Key_ except Yuma had noticed these marks, but no one had ever wanted to bring them up.

When the bell from Shark's room sounded, Nelson quickly collected his massaging materials and Shark's new clothes- the ones Yuma had given him-and headed back to find how Shark had managed. Emperor Kazuma had told Nelson's mother not to be alarmed if Shark took an unusually long or short amount of time to wash. "He might spend a lot of time deciding what to do, or he may be in and out as quickly as possible to avoid annoying anyone. We've had both problems on the ship."

Nelson couldn't imagine what could cause a person to worry so much about taking a normal bath, and he was not sure he wanted to. "Shark? Can I come in?" He asked when he reached the curtained entrance.

"Of course, sir." _Sir?_ No one ever called Nelson "sir." He pulled the curtain aside and stepped into the room, surprised to see Shark dressed in the blue robe, standing in the middle of the room with his eyes downcast. The wet towels Shark had used to dry himself were piled neatly on the floor, as were the clothes he had taken off before bathing. There was also not a drop of water on the floor anywhere.

"Well," Nelson said uncertainly. "You certainly are very…neat."

"I did not wish to leave a mess, sir," Shark said softly, almost in a whisper.

"What? Oh, that's alright. I could have cleaned it up. That's my job, you know. Still, thank you." _Thank you?_ People were not supposed to thank slaves, Shark thought in bafflement. Nelson walked over to the wall and turned off the Jacuzzi, before pulling the plug to drain the bathtub. He then pulled the strange bed away from the wall and towards the middle of the room.

Shark watched him warily, unsure of what the blue-haired boy was going to do next. "Hop on Shark," Nelson said, patting the bed. "I'm going to give you a massage. Oh, here; I'll help you with the robe first." Shark stood stock still, petrified, as Nelson approached him and began to slide the robe off his arms.

A memory of Scorch, rendering him completely helpless and then touching him as he pleased, sending horrible feelings of disgust through him, flashed through Shark's mind, and he shrank back, falling to his knees.

"P- please, sir, not that. Please don't…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be bad. Please, please don't-"

Now it was Nelson's turn to be petrified. "What's wrong, Shark? Please don't do what?"

"Please don't punish me," the slave whimpered.

" _Punish_ you? Shark, I'm only going to give you a massage. Our robes are designed so that you can fold the top part over the bottom without taking it completely off. Here, just let me show you. I promise that I'm not going to hurt you Shark. Do you think Yuma would let me get away with hurting you?"

 _You see, Sharky, your master would lose face as the Prince if he openly punished his slave. However, he can't just let you get away with things either. So he asked us to punish you tonight, and we promised to keep it quiet._

Shark still wasn't sure what to believe. Yuma gave no sign of being cruel, but it could be that Lord Kay hadn't known the punishment was occurring and had stopped it against the Prince's wishes. Perhaps Scorch and Chills really had received permission to do with Shark as they pleased. This could be Yuma's second attempt at a private, hush-hush punishment.

Nelson would often reflect later how convincing Shark to come and lay down on the massage table was like approaching a frightened animal so that you could help it. Shark remained cowering on the floor, while Nelson slowly inched closer to him, softly whispering words of assurance. "It's all right, Shark. I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to help. It's all right…"

He eventually managed to reach the Barian and help him to his feet. "Stand up, Shark. It's okay. I'm not going to touch you. See?" Nelson took a step back once Shark was on his feet and held out his hands in plain sight. "I won't touch you. I just want you to follow my instructions. Can you do that?"

Hesitantly, Shark nodded, his eyes still fixed on the floor. "Good. Okay, I want you to pull your arms out of the sleeves. Now fold the top part of the robe down so that it's sitting on top of the bottom half, around your waist. There, that's it, you've got it. Now tie the sleeves together in front of you, like you did with the robe's belt. Perfect. See? That's all I wanted you to do. Now, can you come over here and lie down on your stomach?" Nelson patted the bed again, and this time, Shark slowly came over and climbed onto it, settling down on his front.

Nelson sighed with relief. He had done it! The good feeling lasted about two seconds, because now Shark's back was bare to his eyes, and Nelson saw what Shark had managed to keep hidden from everyone aboard the _Emperor's Key._

Shark's back was a mass of scars, crisscrossing over one another again and again. But what really horrified Nelson were the open, raw wounds and the hardening, discolored scabs that had begun forming. For a long moment, he just stood there, frozen in shock. "I, uh… I think I forgot something. Don't move; I'll be right back."

He turned and fled the room. In all truthfulness, Shark's back was not nearly as bad as it had been several weeks ago. When he had first been purchased by Yuma, he had had fresh wounds from a beating that morning, and because he hadn't told anyone, they had remained untreated. Some of them had gotten infected, resulting in the open, red wounds, but many had started healing well due to the constant bathing and the clean clothes every day. Even the open ones were smaller than they used to be, and though the scabs itched like crazy and sometimes came open again when he scrubbed too hard, it was better than staining Bronk's shorts with bloody stripes.

To Nelson, however, who had never actually seen the effects of a whip on anyone, let alone to the extent that Shark had endured, they were the most horrible things imaginable. He sprinted up the stairs to where Yuma, his father, and his friends were just beginning to climb out of the pool and head to the showers when he burst into the room, gasping for breath.

"Nelson? What's wrong?" Yuma asked, stepping forward. He was dressed only in swim shorts and wrapped in a towel, dripping wet.

"Shark- he has…he has all these wounds and scars on his back. I didn't…I didn't know what to do…"

Yuma stared at him. "What are you talking about? I don't remember Shark getting injured at all."

Emperor Kazuma began to dry himself faster. "We'd better go have a look, Yuma." Five minutes later, Yuma and his father were carefully examining Shark's back. "I don't think he's gotten these while he's been with us, son." Kazuma said grimly. "Nelson, you have healing balms here, don't you?"

"Uh…yes, your highness."

"Good. Get your mother's help and so we can apply some of them. Bring some bandages, too, so we can wrap him us before you give him that massage. If it becomes clear that you're only aggravating the wounds you'll have to stop. We'll take a supply of the salves your mother thinks are best back with us. Put them on our bill. Did you give him a mineral bath?"

"Yes, your majesty, complete with the Jacuzzi, like Yuma asked me to."

"Good. The minerals will help his back heal. Run along now; the sooner these are treated, the better."

"Have I done something wrong, Master?" Shark asked nervously as they waited for Nelson to return.

"No, Shark, it's just… why didn't you tell us about these?"

"I didn't want to be a bother, Master."

"A _bother?_ Shark, how is it a bother if we're just giving you basic medical treatment? Treatment you needed badly, I might add? You've had these injuries for weeks, and they haven't healed because they haven't been taken care of." He paused to take a breath. "Where did you get these, Shark?" he asked, softly this time. "I've never seen cuts like these before."

Shark stiffened in dread. Now, he would have to tell. He would have to explain all of his mistakes and how he was punished for them. "I…I was clumsy, Master, and I learned too slowly. I couldn't do things fast enough, and sometimes I didn't do them right, or not thoroughly enough. My old master had a book that he would use to keep track of all my mistakes and offenses, and at the end of the day he would have his first mate give me the amount of lashes I deserved, unless my begging satisfied him. Then, at the market-"

" _Lashes?_ " Yuma was horrified. "You mean like…with a whip? They would whip you- _beat_ you- _every day_?"

"Yes, Master. I always deserved it, and-"

"So that's why," Yuma murmured. "That's why you're afraid of me. That's why you're always apologizing, always begging not to be punished. I thought…I don't know what I thought, I just never imagined… Shark," Yuma knelt down so that the two of them were at the same level (Shark was still lying on his stomach on the massage cot). "I hope you know that I would never do something like that to you. I don't believe in…in beating people up for little mistakes. Or big ones, either. It's not right; in fact it's every kind of wrong. You said you deserved it, but no one deserves to be treated like that. Do you believe me?"

"I…I don't know, Master." And Shark really didn't. Could he believe what Yuma was saying?

 **Next time on** _ **A Tale of Two Slaves:**_ **Disaster strikes…but it may be a blessing in disguise.**


	10. Storm at Sea

"Secure those lines!"

"Tie everything down- anything that moves!"

"Pull, men, pull!"

"Faster! Faster!"

The crew of the _Emperor's Key_ rushed to and fro, desperately trying to batten down the hatches. A storm had come up a few days out of Espen- almost out of nowhere- and there was now a frantic scramble to protect the ship.

Down below, Yuma and Shark were doing the same in Yuma's room. "Here, put these in that drawer before you tie the chest down." Yuma tossed Shark several sets of dueling cards. "As soon as we're finished here, we'll head back up on deck to help out there." Everyone had to help in a storm- it was one of Emperor Kazuma's rules. Even though he was their ruler, and should be kept safely in his cabin, the Emperor would be pulling his weight tonight along with those who were in his service.

The only people who were permitted to stay below deck were Tori and Cathy. The two girls were hurriedly bunkering down to wait out the storm. "I hope Yuma and Shark will be okay," Tori murmured, curling up in a blanket.

"Of course they will!" Cathy said fiercely. The ship lurched, sending the lantern hanging from the ceiling swinging wildly. Cathy, who had been standing at the time, reached for the beam in the middle of the room to support herself. Squeezing her eyes shut, Tori reached for the heart-shaped locket she always wore around her neck- the one her father had given her before he'd passed away.

Her eyes snapped open. Her most precious possession was gone! "Cathy! My locket's gone!"

"What? But how?"

"I- I don't- Oh, no! I took it off while we were doing the laundry this morning! It's still out on the back deck!" Throwing off the blanket, Tori jumped to her feet, almost crashing to the floor as the ship once again heaved up on the swells.

"Tori! You can't go out there! Not in this storm!"

"That locket is the only thing left I have from my Father, Cathy. I _have_ to get it back." With that, the greenette opened the door to the cabin and stepped out of its protective walls.

"What do you need us to do?"

"What?" Flip yelled over the roar of the storm, unable to make out what Yuma was saying.

"I said: WHAT DO YOU NEED US TO DO?" Yuma shouted.

"Oh! Well, you can go and help you Dad and those sailors- they're trying to get the sails down!" Flip shouted back, pointing to where Emperor Kazuma and several others were straining with a thick rope. The wind was keeping the sail full and heavy, making it harder to collapse. "Shark! You head to the back deck and make sure everything is secured there. Here- when you get there, tie one end of this around your waist and the other to the rail, in case you get washed overboard!"

Shark nodded, not seeing the point in yelling, and accepted the long, thick rope Flip offered him. He turned and hurried in the direction of the ship's stern.

Tori clung to the ship's rail and inched her way along, the wind and water stinging her eyes. She was trying to get close enough to the washing equipment in order to be able to let go of the rail and crawl over to it. She was sure she had put her locket down on one of the wash basins.

 _Please, please don't let the storm have washed it away yet,_ she prayed. Managing to get as close as she could, she dropped to the deck and began to crawl her way towards the wooden cauldrons. The win wasn't as bad now that she was closer to the deck, but the wood dug into her hands, and there was no relief from the constant assault of rain and spray. Finally, she reached the first wash basin and grabbed it, feeling along its edge for her locket. Nothing.

She moved to the second, then the third, and – there! Her freezing fingers found the delicate chain and the smooth metal heart attached to it. "Oh, thank goodness!" Tori said as she cradled it almost crying with relief. She let go of the washing tub to fasten it around her neck, managing to do it despite her numb fingers. So focused was she on her task that she failed to notice the ocean gathering itself for its biggest wave yet.

Shark moved slowly around the opposite side of the rear deck, checking every knot he came across for to make sure it was pulled tight. He felt the ship surge beneath him and grabbed the rail, realizing what was coming. In the next second, the wave came, completely blinding and drowning him for several moments. He finally managed to find air again and gasped for it greedily, coughing and spluttering.

Despite his garbled senses, he still heard the scream. He knew immediately what it was. The same sound had haunted him in his dreams on Chironex's ship, and had come back to torment him further once he'd remembered.

"Marin!" The screaming faded into the storm, but Shark wasn't going to let her go this time. He yanked on his safety line to make sure it was secure, before diving overboard after his sister.

The water was cold, and the darkness made it impossible to see anything, but his sister's cries drove him forward. He kicked viciously against the waves, fighting to keep his head above water. _Why didn't you save me, brother? Why did you leave me all alone? Where were you? You said you'd come…_

"I'm coming, Marin, I'm coming!" Fighting the storm was exhausting, but Shark knew he couldn't give up. He couldn't fail his sister. Not again… He couldn't hear the screams anymore, so he began swimming all the harder, diving under water and reaching out into its depths, praying that if she was sinking he would find her before she was beyond his reach.

Unable to hold his breath any longer, he fought his way back to the surface and was fortunate to find it again. In violent waters, once you went under, you often couldn't keep your sense of up and down. "Marin! Marin!" He called desperately to her, but his voice was lost in the wind. HE could barely hear it himself.

He continued to swim, but his body was weakening. "Hang on…hang on, sis. I'll save you. I won't leave you…not this time…" His hand brushed against something. It was soft, and at first he thought it was just seaweed, but then he found the neck and shoulder that were attached to it.

His energy restored, he seized the arm with both hands and pulled. The current fought against him, but he refused to let go. He oud the soft part again and, realizing it was hair, wrapped both his hands in it and pulled.

He gasped for breath as his efforts sapped what little energy he had left. More than once he found himself with a mouthful of salty water, but he finally managed to get his arms around her chest, and with one final kick, he forced her to the surface.

Her head broke through the water and rolled limply to the side. He clung to her cold body with all his might- which at this point wasn't much- and desperately treaded water. _Please, please…_ Shark thought as the cold seeped into him further, causing his teeth to chatter. _Please don't let it be too late…_

"What do you mean, Tori came up on deck?" Kazuma shouted over the roar of the storm.

"She left her locket out by the wash stand and went to retrieve it! When she didn't come back after a while I got worried!" Cathy could barely hold herself up.

"All right, Cat, get back below deck. We'll go after her!" Kazuma gestured to Lord Kay, Yuma, Flip, and some others that were nearby. "We're going to head to the back deck! Tori Meadows should be back there; keep your eyes peeled!"

Receiving their orders, the group began to edge its way around to the back of the ship, clinging to the rail and to each other. It was one of those frustrating situations in which your senses of caution and speed were at war. One part of you wanted to sprint to the back deck, and the other part screamed at you to hunch down and stay there until the danger was passed. Every member of the rescue party had to sacrifice some caution and some speed in the end, but they reached the stern without incident.

Squinting through sheets of rain to scan the deck for the missing greenette, Yuma began calling for his friend. "Tori! Are you our here? Please, answer me!"

"Yuma! Your majesty!" Flip waved frantically to his friend and the Emperor. "There's a safety line hanging over the rail here- and it's pulled taut!"

Kazuma's face paled. "Shark must have gone overboard! Pull, men, pull!"

The five sailors, Yuma, Kazuma, and lord Kay grasped the life line and tugged with all their might. "Heave! Heave!" Muscles strained, sweats broke out, palms were rubbed raw, as they slowly began pulling Shark back on board.

Shark himself at first thought that it was an illusion, some sort of phantom sensation created by the waves coming at him from all sides. But it soon became apparent that he was, in fact, rising through the air. He tightened his grip on the cold, limp person in his arms, determined not to lose her.

At one point, he was bashed against the side of the ship, but he barely cared, as long as his fragile burden was protected. He finally felt strong arms hoisting him over a wooden railing and setting him down on a wooden deck. There were voices all around him, but they were lost in the fog that had become his mind.

He became aware that they were trying to take his sister from him, but he tightened his grip and wouldn't let her go. "No!" he cried, cradling her close to him. He looked down at her to make sure she was alright, and immediately panicked. She wasn't breathing!

"Get back! Get back!" he demanded, waving the onlookers away. He laid the girl on her back, tilted her head back, and tried frantically to breathe the life back into her. Skills he had learned years before came back to him in an instant as he watched for her chest to begin rising and falling. It was barely moving.

 _Something's wrong!_ "What's wrong?" he murmured to himself. "What's wrong?" _The dress! It's too tight!_ Looking wildly around, he spotted a knife on the belt of a bystander and snatched it. There was a yelp of surprised, but he barely heard it as he cut off the restraining corset and bodice.

The onlookers recoiled in shock when Shark refused to release Tori, saying something in his native language. They were even more surprised when he began to breathe into her, apparently trying to bring her back from the grave.

"Kay, is it possible that he could get her to start breathing again?" Kazuma murmured to his friend.

"I don't know. I've never heard of it being done." Lord Kay adjusted his glasses in fascination.

When Shark cut off Tori's bodice, still talking in a tongue that was gibberish to them, many of the men gasped in shock to turned away blushing. She was still wearing her slip, of course, but to a Heartlander, with their strict ideas of modesty, she might as well have been naked. Yuma himself turned bright red.

"Shark! What are you doing?" Yuma's question went unanswered as, as it had been througho0ut the whole scene, Shark didn't seem to hear him. He once again leaned down to breathe into Tori's lungs. To his very great relief, her chest began rising and falling, and then…suddenly her eyes flew open and she was coughing up sea water and gasping for air.

"Tori!"

"Miss Meadows!" Yuma, Kazuma, and Lord Kay hurried to her side, helping her to sit up and make it easier on her lungs.

"Tori! Oh, thank goodness you're alright!"

"What happened?" The greenette asked, bewildered. "The last thing I remember… I was out on deck looking for my locket, and- my locket!" Tori's hands flew to her throat. To her amazement, her father's last gift to her was still around her neck. "I remember now. I had just put it on when this huge wave came and swept me overboard." She looked around. "How did I get back on the ship?"

Kazuma smiled. "We sent Shark back to check all the bindings. He must have seen you washed overboard and jumped in after you. Or maybe he was washed overboard with you and managed to grab you before you were swept away too far. Either way, he undoubtedly saved for life, Tori."

"That's right!" Yuma exclaimed. "Shark's a hero!"

"Speaking of Shark," Lord Kay spoke up, "Where is he?" Everyone had been so concerned about Tori that they hadn't noticed her savior slip away.

"Shark! Shark!" Yuma called for him. There was no answer. The hero of that day had disappeared.

 **Next time on** _ **A Tale of Two Slaves:**_ **A wall is finally broken down.** __


	11. Shark Confesses

After Tori had started breathing again, Shark had been pulled back into reality. The girl he had saved form the abyss wasn't his sister. A part of him had known that even as he'd swum desperately to rescue her, but he had so _wanted_ it to be Marin. He had wanted a second chance to save her.

But he had already lost his sister. He had failed at the most important task he would ever have. And they were calling him a hero! It was unbearable. So, he had slipped away, needing to be alone for a while with his grief and his guilt.

The storm had died down to a constant swirl instead of the unpredictable swell it had been before. He was able to move around the deck much more easily without worrying about slipping, and soon found the perfect place to hide. It was a coil of rope, three feet wide and two feet high. He climbed inside and hunkered down, drawing his knees up to his chest and burying his face in them.

"I'm sorry, Marin. So, so sorry."

" _This is what you deserve, slave!" The whip came down again and Shark let out a pained gasp. It was all he could muster at this point. "I hope you know how worthless you are, slave. How you're only wasted space in the grand scheme of things."_

Shark tried to squash the memories, but they welled up anyway, made more potent by his guilt. Tears stained his cheeks, and, seeing no reason to, he did nothing to stem their flow.

Yuma was worried about Shark, but he refused to leave Tori's side until she was dressed in some warm clothes and safely back in bed. Cathy stayed with her in their cabin, and Bronk went to work making some broth for her, but everyone else (except for a few sailors who were still needed to man the ship) spread out and searched high and low for the missing Barian.

"Shark! Shark!" Yuma called until his voice was hoarse. "Please come out, Shark. You saved Tori's life! You shouldn't be hiding!"

"I hope we find that boy soon," Lord Kay remarked to Caswell as they looked together. "He's still in his wet clothes. He could catch pneumonia."

Yuma passed Shark's hiding place several times, and Shark could tell that his master's voice was starting to falter. Besides, he was beginning to get cold- _very_ cold. It took all the effort he could muster to keep his teeth from chattering. Quietly, he slid from the coil of rope and approached the Tsukamonian Prince.

"Here I am, Master," he said, keeping his eyes downcast.

"Ahh!" Yuma leapt forward and then whirled around. "Shark! There you are! Where have you been?"

"I was hiding in that coil of rope, Master."

"What?" Yuma peered behind him and quickly saw his friend's hiding place. "You actually fit in there? Wow. Anyway, you need to come inside and get some warm clothes on, or you'll get sick."

"Of course Master."

"And you should probably have some broth, too," Yuma added. "You're shivering." It was true. Shark was trembling violently with the cold that seeped into his skin. He returned with Yuma to their cabin and dried himself off before changing into a clean set of clothes. All the while, Yuma prattled on about what a hero he was and how brave he had been to jump in after Tori (Shark had to admit that he had jumped in because his master had asked him.)

"You will go to see Tori, won't you? She's been asking for you ever since she found out you saved her. Bronk will be there too, so you can get some broth from him. Bronk's broth is really awesome- it's the perfect combination of spicy and tangy flavors." Dully, Shark nodded.

Tori was propped up in bed, sipping some sup with Cathy's help, when they arrived at her room. Emperor Kazuma and Lord Kay were there as well, making sure she was okay. Bronk was standing nearby, ready to refill Tori's bowl just in case.

Yuma bounded in, followed by the much more reserved Shark. Lord Kay quickly rose from his chair, insisting that Shark take his seat. Kazuma brought him a blanket, noticing that his lips were still faintly blue, and Bronk hastily poured out a fresh bowl of broth, saying that he "hoped it was up to a hero's standards."

Shark choked some of it down, but he could barely taste it, and his throat felt swollen and constricted, not wanting to accept the liquid.

"Are you feeling alright, Shark?" This was Tori, leaning forward in her bed and looking concerned.

"Yes, m'lady," Shark whispered.

"Oh, good." Tori looked relieved. "You can't get sick, Shark. It would be all my fault and I would never be able to forgive myself. Thank you for going in after me- it was very brave of you. If I ever get the chance to repay you, I will."

"Please," Shark was struggling to speak. "Please don't."

"I insist," Tori said, thinking he was only embarrassed or being polite.

"Let's hear it for Shark!" Yuma cheered. "Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hi, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray!" Shark stood up so suddenly that his chair fell to the floor.

"Please, Master, may I go outside? I need some fresh air."

"Of course," Yuma said, baffled. Shark ran from the room, stopping only a fraction of a second to hand over his barely drained soup bowl to Bronk, fighting back more tears.

"Kazuma?" Lord Kay's forehead creased in uncertainty.

"I think I should have a talk with him," the Emperor said, rising from his chair.

Shark clutched at the rail of the ship, unable to keep himself upright. His vision was getting blurry, and his ears were ringing. All around him, there seemed to be voices, but they were muffled and incoherent. The voices inside his head, though, were as clear as ever.

 _Why didn't you save me, brother? Where were you? Why did you break your promise? Nash…_

He could still see his sisters' faces, could still remember what their voices had sounded like…but who was Nash? He thought hard, and then suddenly realized that Nash was his own name. It had been such a long time since anyone had used it in reference to him, but it was still there, buried in his memories. _Nash. That's my name. It was the name given to me when I was born._

It was a strange feeling, to suddenly have a name that you identified with; that you had always identified with. More memories tried to come up, but he shoved them back down. He didn't need more agony right now.

"Shark?" The purplette whipped around, surprised to see Emperor Kazuma standing behind him. "Can I talk with you for a minute?"

"Of course, your majesty," Shark said, forgetting to drop his gaze un his surprise.

"Why don't we go into my cabin where we can have more privacy?" Emperor Kazuma suggested. Shark followed him and sat down awkwardly on a plush window seat in Kazuma's office. The man shuffled some papers around and pulled up a chair to sit across from him. 

"Now," Kazuma said seriously. "Would you like to tell me what's going on?"

"I-I don't know what you're-"

"Don't lie to me, Shark." Kazuma's voice was stern. "You save Tori's life, and then go around acting like you committed a heinous crime. I know that slavery is cruel, but I've never known it to make someone feel guilty about a heroic act. There's something else, isn't there? Something from your past that you haven't told us. What happened Shark? Tell me."

"I- I…" Shark was trembling visibly and he couldn't form his words properly. There was no escape. He'd have to confess everything. "I murdered my sisters!" He cried out suddenly, unable to bear it any longer. "I killed them. They're dead because of me!"

Kazuma stared. Whatever he had imagined, it hadn't been anything like this. "Could you explain, please?" He asked finally.

"We were running, and I told them to go ahead while I distracted the enemy. They caught me. I became a slave; there was no escape; at least that's what I told myself. But then…I found out…" Shark was openly sobbing now, gasping out his story in between choked tears. "They hadn't escaped. They had been captured and used as whores before being beaten to death. And I did nothing. I assumed that they were safe and did nothing to make sure! They're dead because of me. I deserve a life of suffering and misery.

"All of you have been so kind to me, but I don't deserve it. Now you know, so please don't tell me that nothing is my fault or that I'm a hero. I'm a murderer, that's what I am." Shark curled up on the window seat and tried to stifle his sobs, bringing them down to whimpers.

Kazuma stood up and stepped to the window, staring out at the gray sky of early morning. After a long while, he turned back to Shark and said, "Look at me."

Shaking, Shark did so. _Slap!_ Shark's hand flew to his cheek in surprise. Yuma's father had struck him!

"You disgust me," Kazuma said harshly. "If you think slavery is all you're good for, than I suppose I should start treating you more like property. I used to think no one deserved a life of slavery, but now I see that I was wrong. Someone who thinks that they deserve slavery isn't fit for anything else. You are a fool, Barian. You surrender yourself to slavery for your sisters' sakes- obviously you loved them. And yet you defile their memory by doing _this_ to yourself. How dare you? How do you think your sisters would feel if they saw you like this, groveling before foreign men?

Do you think they blame you for something that was completely out of your control? Perhaps they do. Perhaps all Barians are fools and think such ridiculous things. Who are you, to blame yourself for your sisters' fate, when you did everything you could to protect them? Who are you to lament uncontrollable events that occur in our broken world? Are you in the place of God, that you think you should be able to shape the future itself?"

Shark stared at Kazuma in shock. How would Marin feel, if she knew what he was doing? She would be furious, that's how she would feel. He could imagine her scolding him.

 _What were you thinking, Nash? That putting yourself in mortal danger every single day would make me feel better?_

"I…What have I done?" Shark whispered. He felt sick.

Kazuma ran his hands though his hair and sat down again. "You can't change the past, Shark, but you can change the future. _Your_ future, not anybody else's."

Shark looked up at him, a memory stirring in the back of his mind. Taking a shaky breath, he allowed it to surface. The waves of agony he expected didn't come, but rather a strange feeling that he couldn't quite place. It was a memory of Vector complaining about what a coward he was and how he'd never be able to stand up against his father.

" _You can't change what you've done in the past, Vector, but you can change what you do in the future."_ Shark had told him that. And Vector had believed him. Hesitantly, he let his guard down further and allowed other memories to come flooding back. Some were sad, some were terrifying, but many, even those from his days of slavery, were…happy.

Happy. That was the strange feeling he was remembering right now. Remembering all his friends, all the things they had done together…it was making him happy. For the first time in six months (or 6½ moons, depending on where you come from), Shark smiled. It was a strange sensation, but he couldn't stop.

He got to his feet and held out his hand to the man in front of him. "Thank you, Emperor Kazuma," he said, meeting his eyes as though they were equals. For, of course, they were. Shark remembered now. He too, was an emperor. And, because they were equals, there was something Kazuma needed to know.

Shark couldn't tell him his name was Nash- after all Kazuma was still a Heartlander- but he could translate his name. "Nash" meant "leader" or "at the head," and, thanks to Kylie, he knew a Heartlandish name that meant almost the same thing: "emperor" or "ruler."

"You have done me a great service," he started, "To repay you, I would like to give you something. It's not much, but it's all I have to give. My name- translated into your language- is Reginald."

"Well, Reginald," Kazuma said, grasping the boy's hand, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"Thank you." With that, Reginald turned and opened the door, stepping out into the brilliant rays of the rising sun.

 **Next time on** _ **A Tale of Two Slaves:**_ **The story finally returns to Rio…and her quest for justice.**


	12. Hunting for Heartland

"Please tell me, Rio. I can't stand seeing you like this!" Quattro was nearing the end of his sanity. Ever since Rio had recovered from her hysterical attack, she had remained in her room and hadn't spoken a word to anyone, except to Iris. Even then, she would only speak in a western language that no one but her sister could understand anyway. It was now the beginning of October, and Quattro couldn't stand being without his best friend any longer.

Because he was now Crown Prince, more and more responsibility had fallen to him. He had to attend meetings, galas, and parties, and it was maddening. It felt like every young woman in the kingdom had tried to seduce him, but the only one he cared for was Rio. She was thinner and paler than she used to be, and her eyes, all though they wandered the room, never landed on him.

"I'm going crazy without you, Rio. Please, let me help you. Let me _try_ to help you. I have to at least try."

Silence. Quattro got up and began to pace the room in agitation, running his hands through his hair. He sat down again. "Iris told us what you were saying," he said finally. "About your brother."

This produced a reaction. She stiffened slightly and turned her head just a fraction of an angle towards him. "I never told anyone about your brother, like you asked me to," he continued. "My family was surprised to find out about him." He leaned forward in his seat, taking his companion's slender, white hands in his. "Rio, I can't imagine the kind of pain you're suffering right now, but I also have siblings that I care for a great deal. Your brother, he's- he's gone." Rio's breath hitched. "It hurts. I know it must hurt in ways that no one can understand." He paused, unsure of how to continue.

"Dr. McNeill says that guilt is a natural reaction to the loss loss a loved one, no matter the circumstances." His voice dropped to a whisper. "I feel guilty about my mother's death, even though it was a long time ago."

Rio shifted a bit in her seat, the chair creaking under her. "You don't understand," she whispered. Her voice was hoarse from lack of use. "I stayed here. I didn't even try to go back for him."

"You couldn't have-"

"I could!" Rio jumped up, almost falling over, her body weak from lack of physical activity. Quattro reached out to help her, but she slapped his hands away. "I could have! I was going to! I should have been honorable and kept my promise to myself. But I became comfortable here. I put my own comfort above my brother's life. Heartland was right- Nash is dead because of my selfishness!"

Now it was Quattro's turn to jump to his feet. "Heartland?" he gasped. "Did you say Heartland?"

"Yes. Why? You people all think he's some sort of hero for escaping the _cruel Barians._ If he says something about a Barian slave girl, it must be true because he's just a pillar of-"

"Rio! Lord Faker and his men have been searching for Heartland for months! He stole plans for the defense of Tenjo, records of the army- Kite suspected him from the beginning, but he was too late to stop him. How come you didn't tell us it was him?"

"Because-" Rio stopped. Why hadn't she told anyone? She hadn't wanted to reveal that her father had been royalty and that Heartland had betrayed him. "I don't know," she said, sinking back down into her chair. "Heartland was the one who betrayed our country to the Astranians. He's the reason I was captured and enslaved." her face crumpled. "He's the reason my brother is gone! Domitian beat him to death! And I wasn't there…" she collapsed into sobs, her body shaking with the force of them.

Quattro pulled her into his arms and held her tightly against him, letting her cry into his chest. "The chances of you being able to stop this Domitian guy were probably slim to none, Rio. If he's powerful enough to invade almost all of Baria, he's powerful enough to stop you from helping your brother. If you had somehow made it back there, who knows what would have happened? What happened to your brother was _not_ your fault."

Rio's sobs began to subside, but Quattro's arms were still securely around her. "I promise you, Rio, we'll get this guy. Not only because he's some sort of spy, but because of what he did to you and your family."

Five days later, a carriage pulled up in front of a second-rate hotel in Arclight's capitol city. A young man stepped out first, then turned around to help a young woman, wearing a cloak and a hood to conceal herself, out as well. The young man said some things to the driver before escorting the young woman inside.

In the hotel lobby, the man behind the counter looked up to welcome his new guests, but quickly bowed at the waist when he saw who it was. "Prince Thomas! We are truly honored to have you grace our little inn. What can I do for you sire?"

"We're trying to keep this discreet," Quattro whispered. "Stand up, quickly!"

"Of course," the hotel clerk straightened, not appearing at all fazed. "What can I do for you, sir?"

"I'm looking for someone. A man with greasy green hair and strangely shaped spectacles. He's rather tall and has a way of making you feel uneasy. We have reason to believe that he came to your hotel to stay for a while, but we don't know what name he might have used."

Because Heartland's reappearance was a matter of international security, Quattro had reported it to his father and his advisors, who had quickly sent word to Animalia, Tenjo, and Tsukamo, saying that it could be as bad as an invasion. Domitian had conquered Baria, and now it was clear that Heartland was working for him, spying out the Heartlandish countries, there wasn't any other logical conclusion. A kingdom-wide search for Heartland and any allies he might have had on Arclightian soil was this begun, but clues were collected slowly and often hard to put together.

Quattro had promised Rio that they were going to capture Heartland- and he had meant it. So, based on what they had learned from the search parties, the two of them had figured out that Heartland had to still be in the capitol city. All the places he'd been spotted and the directions he'd been going in at those times had pointed towards the fact that he was traveling throughout the city-not trying to leave it.

"That doesn't make sense," Quattro had said, staring in perplexity at the maps they had scribbled on. "He had to know you would eventually say something about him. Why wouldn't he make a run for it?"

"Contacts," Rio said, her eyes narrowed. "There are probably other spies who have landed in Arclight. Heartland must be communicating with them. And look- everywhere he goes is within a certain area of the city." She drew a circle around the place where Heartland had been seen.

"Maybe he's renting a place to stay in that area," Quattro suggested.

"Too risky." Rio shook her head. "Heartland's a coward, he'll be moving around as much as possible. He might stay with other spies for a while, but otherwise he'd have to stay at a hotel or a boarding house."

Operating under this assumption, Rio and Quattro had made a list of all the hotels and boarding houses within the area Heartland had been staying, and that was why they had snuck out of the palace tonight with the help of a coachman Quattro trusted. It was risky, but Quattro was determined to keep his promise, and the task had also returned some of the fire to Rio's beautiful eyes. It was also a long shot- it had been four months since Heartland had confronted Rio, and the number of times people could remember seeing him was too small for the area the two detectives were searching to really be conclusive. But, as far the two of them were concerned, it was worth a try.

"Let's see now…" The hotel clerk's face was scrunched up in concentration. "Does he wear a lot of clashing colors?"

"That's him!" Rio cried excitedly. No one could forget Heartland's horrible taste in apparel.

"Is he still around here?" Quattro asked. This was the first lead they'd had all night, after six stops.

"Oh, no; it must have been a month ago that I last saw him. He only stayed one night. He had a lot of visitors though- about four or five men- whom he told me to send directly upstairs to his room. I thought it was rather strange. The next morning he left- I never saw his visitors again; I only work the evening shift, you understand- he took a cab and gave instructions to the driver where to take him. That's all."

Rio leaned forward eagerly. "Do you remember what the instructions were?"

"Not exactly, no," the clerk said, shaking his head, "But I remember thinking how odd it was that a man like him had business at the docks- not at the places where passengers or special shipments come in- but rather the wharfs where food and hardware are stored."

Rio and Quattro glanced at each other, both of them thinking the same thing. Then wharfs were a perfect place for a spy ring to converge at. "Thank you, sir," Quattro said, handing him a fistful of gold coins.

"Always a pleasure to be of service, young man," the clerk said, bowing once again.

"To the lower docks," Quattro ordered once they were outside with the carriage again.

The driver's brow furrowed in concern. "The lower docks, sir?"

"Yes." Quattro's voice held no room for argument. He helped Rio into the carriage and then climbed in himself, pulling the door shut behind him.

"So what's the plan?" Rio whispered once they had started moving.

Quattro shrugged. "I don't know. Heartland might not even be there. It might be another false lead or dead end."

"Well, I can think of a way to make sure."

"Really?"

"Yeah. If I show up down there, Heartland won't be able to resist coming over to find out why."

"But what if he hurts you?"

"That's where you come in. As soon as he's in range, you jump him. He'll be taken off guard and we'll be able to overpower him- and finally get some answers to our questions."

"I don't know…"

"Listen, Quattro, you're just going to have to trust me."

"Okay." Quattro did trust Rio, but the whole situation had started him wondering if there was something she wasn't telling him.

For instance, why, if Heartland was a spy, had he risked getting caught to sneak into Arclight- right into the royal palace, no less- just to tell Rio that her brother was dead? Was he really so sadistic that he just enjoyed watching people suffer at any opportunity? Or, was there a more strategic reason for causing Rio to suffer? It was because of Heartland that Rio and Iris had ended up slaves, because he had betrayed the leader of their country, allowing invaders to overpower them. If that was true- and Rio had said it was- and she could recognize Heartland on sight, why hadn't he taken all caution to avoid her?

Then again, perhaps it was pure chance that they had run into each other at Tenjo, and then Heartland had panicked, fearing that she would reveal him. But if _that_ was the case, why hadn't he made a run for it right then? Or, why hadn't he tried to eliminate Rio or silence her immediately? It didn't make any sense.

"Quattro! Earth to Quattro!"

"What?" Quattro jumped only to be smacked in the face by a hand that had been waving in front of him, trying to get his attention. 

Rio pulled her hand back and shook it a bit. "You could have given me some warning so I had time to get out of your way," she said.

"Sorry. What's the matter?"

"We're here. Look." She pointed out the window. Sure enough, they had arrived at the lower docks. Unlike the upper docks, which Quattro was used to, they were old and decrepit, with stains and trash, like burnt-out cigars, covering them. It was almost pitch black except for one oil lamp, hanging from a hook in the side of one of the buildings, flickering dimly. There was a mist rising from the ocean that reflected the light, casting an eerie glow over the scene.

Quattro shivered. "I don't like this," he said.

"Neither do I," Rio told him, "But we have no choice." She reached across him and opened the carriage door, climbing out into the dampness. Swallowing his fear, Quattro followed her. His part of the job was to jump Heartland as soon as he was within range. Glancing around, he decided the best way to do this would be to hide behind one of the warehouses that lined the dock and watch Rio from concealment.

Rio herself forced herself to remain calm. She had to act like she had a reason for being here other than looking for the man who had ruined her life. Pulling off her hood to reveal her blue hair, she began to stroll casually around the dock, breathing deeply as though enjoying the salty, misty air. It was kind of pleasant actually.

Quattro found a good hiding spot, one where the boards didn't creak so much under his feet, and crouched down to wait. And wait. And wait. And wait some more. Quattro was sure he was going to pass out from lack of sleep and blood flow when a figure emerged from the shadows and approached his friend. It took all of his resolve not to call out to warn her. Rio must have become aware of his presence somehow, however, because she soon turned around.

Heartland began to speak with Rio, but Quattro was too far away to hear any of it. However, he did notice that Rio was slowly luring her companion towards him. As they drew closer, Quattro was at last able to hear them but he soon found he couldn't _understand_ them. They weren't speaking a Heartlandish language.

A creak of the planks behind Rio had alerted her to another presence. She caught the sound of him breathing, and then he spoke. "I did not expect to see a lady of your status down here, your highness."

Slowly, Marin turned around to come face to face with everyone's favorite worm, Lord Heartland. "And yet I expected a rat like you to be in this exact spot," Marin said coolly.

Heartland looked hurt. "A rat? Oh, no, your highness; I prefer the term 'informant'."

"So you are a spy!"

"But of course. And a very dashing and handsome one at that.

"Don't make me laugh."

"No joke was intended, Princess. So, now that you've found our little rendezvous-"

"Ron-day-voo," Rio corrected him.

"What?"

"It looks like 'rendezvous,' but it's pronounced 'ron-day-voo'."

Heartland's face became an odd shade of purple as he glared at her, unable to come up with response. "Anyway," he said finally, "Now that you've found us, what are you going to do about it? No one in the Arclight royal family or court will believe you. You're only a Barian slave girl, after all, and there are too many unanswered questions. Questions you _can't_ answer, right, Princess?" He smirked at her.

"Perhaps," Rio said. "And then again…perhaps not." She smiled knowingly.

At that moment, Quattro leapt into action. He had intended to tackle Heartland from behind, but the blasted fiend turned at the last second and so Quattro ended up colliding with him head. It produced the desired effect, though- Heartland was knocked to the ground and taken completely off guard. Quattro landed a few well-placed punches, succeeding in breaking the man's nose.

"Quattro!" Rio cried. The Crown Prince looked up to see his friend in the clutches of a greasy-looking, well-muscled man.

"Let her go!" he ordered, leaping forward. To his astonishment, he was grabbed from behind and found himself the prisoner of two more thugs. "Let us go!" he demanded, thrashing wildly.

"You didn't really think I'd be down here all alone, did you?"

Rio's eyes widened, remembering what the hotel clerk had said, _He had a lot of visitors though- about four or five men- whom he told me to send directly upstairs to his room. I thought it was rather strange._ "Of course," she groaned, feeling utterly stupid, "The other members of your spy ring."

"Yes. And now, _your highness_ ," Heartland sneered, addressing Quattro this time, "Allow me to pay you back for this broken nose." The "informant" laid several punches and kicks to Quattro's ribs and stomach.

"Leave him alone!" Rio cried, struggling against her captor. Her efforts were useless.

Things were looking more hopeless by the second when there was suddenly a shout from somewhere in the darkness. "Release the Crown Prince and surrender!"

Heartland's head snapped around. "Who's there?" In answer, an entire battalion of Arclightian soldiers emerged from the mist, swords drawn. With them was the coachman that had driven Rio and Quattro all night. With little other option, Heartland and his goons raised their hands in the air.

Quattro sagged to the ground, groaning. Rio rushed forward, cradling him in her arms. "I'm sorry, Quattro. I'm sorry. I was the one who told you to jump him. It's my fault." Quattro managed to smile.

"Don't worry about it. It felt really good to hit that worm anyway." He turned towards the coachman. "Where did you get this battalion so quickly?"

"Didn't you see them? They were with us all night, you know."

Quattro's mouth dropped open. "But I told you-"

"So you did, your highness. But, you are the heir to the throne of Arclight. You didn't really think I'd let you go gallivanting through the surly districts of the capitol without some protection, did you?"

Quattro could only stare, his face flushed with embarrassment.

 **Next time on** _ **A Tale of Two Slaves:**_ **Rio finally gets some answers about what's been going on in her home country.**


	13. Answers

"I am appalled at your behavior, Thomas. Sneaking out in the middle of the night to chase down a dangerous man, taking a young woman with you! What would you have done if the battalion had not been there, hm? Let them beat you to death, I suppose. As crown prince, you have a responsibility-"

"A responsibility to ensure justice and provide safety for the people!" Quattro jumped in.

"You won't be able to do anything for the people if you're constantly recovering from injuries, son." King Byron gave his second child and heir a stern look. Quattro sighed. He'd spent the last several days in bed, allowing his bruised ribs to heal. His black eye had faded to a dull yellow, but both tender places hurt if you pressed on them too hard.

"I'm sorry Dad."

"Its all right, Thomas. I know you only had the best intentions." Byron collapsed into a chair across from him. "But I did expect you to use your head more as you matured."

"You mean you expected me to act like Chris."

"What?"

"That's it, isn't it? Ever since Chris got married and left, you expect to see him when you look at me. I'm not like Chris, Dad. I'm sorry, but I'm not. I'm not magically going to turn into your perfect heir."

Byron was quiet for a long time. "You're right, and I apologize for putting too much pressure on you. For years, I believed Christopher would become king after me, married or not, but when Prince Yuma abdicated his right to the throne…Well." He stopped and ran a hand through his hair. "The fact is, son, that you're just like your mother. She would have done the same thing you did, proper or not." He smiled sadly. " I couldn't ask you to give up the fire that caused me to fall in love with my dear Rosetta."

The two men were quiet for a while, remembering the late Queen, or at least trying to, in Quattro's case.

He finally broke the silence, "So what's going to happen to Heartland?"

King Byron groaned. "I don't know. We're going to try and get some answers from him. Then….most of my advisors are trying to get me to sign an execution warrant."

"The death penalty?" Quattro was stunned. "That hasn't been used in …I mean, you've never used it! I thought you didn't believe in it, like Emperor Kazuma.

"Normally, I don't, but in this case we have a threat of international security. If he were to escape, or somehow gain an outside contact, it would be disastrous, and assigning a large amount of soldiers to guard him would only be aiding the enemy." Byron looked very old all of a sudden, Quattro noticed.

"Dad, are you all right?"

"Yes. Yes, I'm fine. I just wish such a decision- a decision of life and death- did not fall to me." He shook his head. " I can't understand why people kill for this job."

King Byron had asked some of his most trustworthy guards to interrogate Heartland and his accomplices, fearing that anyone else would be too viscous. So far the sessions of questioning had resulted in nothing, but there were a few whom the guards thought would comply if promised a more lenient punishment. Heartland had been warned that some of his men might betray him, but he remained silent- at least on any topic of interest. The head guard had informed King Byron that Heartland had made plenty of remarks during questioning that were not worth repeating.

Now, as Rio watched him through the bars of his cell, he was leaning against the wall, wearing a pouting scowl. "What do you hope to gain by not telling them anything?" The worm jumped and spun around to face her, and Rio felt a twinge of satisfaction at having taken the slime ball by surprise. His startled look soon changed into his usual oily smirk, however, and he swaggered towards her.

"Well, well, well, your highness. What occasion brings you to my humble cell?"

"Humble is one thing you're not, Heartland. I came here to get the information you've been withholding from my friends."

"What? You think you can just come down here, ask nicely, and I'll tell you anything you want to know? Besides, if I tell them the truth, I'll have to reveal you too, you know. Your _friends_ will quickly become your enemies when they find out who you really are."

Rio pressed herself up against the cell door, as close as she could get to Heartland, and said in a voice laced with poison, " If you dare to say anything except for the truth of Domitian's battle plans and his extent of knowledge regarding this continent, I will kill you. I don't care what they'll do to me. I will make you suffer just like you made my brother suffer. And don't think you can stop me. There's nothing holding me back that would compel me to give up seeing your face contorted in agony as your life drains away."

Rio took a deep breath and waited a few seconds for that to sink in. "Now tell me how things are in Baria. How many nations has Domitian captured?"

Heartland glared at her for a few moments, before beginning brusquely and quickly, "Only the Tachyon Mountains remain out of Domitian's control. Everywhere else has become part of his new empire. There is a group of rebels who have caused a great amount of trouble using guerilla warfare and sabotage. They have evaded us so far but it will not be long before they are crushed like the insignificant bugs that they are."

"I wouldn't count on that," Marin hissed. With that, the Barian Princess turned and swept out of the dungeons. Heartland was a coward, and she was counting on his fear to get that information out to him- before he called her bluff.

Two days later, complete copies of everything Heartland and cronies knew about Domitian's schemes were in the hands of King Byron. "I can't explain it, your majesty," the head guard said as he handed them over. "He just suddenly opened up and told us everything."

"Let's not ask why, let's just be grateful he did," Byron muttered. "I'm calling a meeting of all the Heartlandish nations- Animalia, Tenjo, and Tsukamo. We need to plan."

 **Next time on** _ **A Tale of Two Slaves:**_ **Emperor Kazuma's return home is met with an urgent letter from Arclight.**


	14. The Tsukamos Return

"Welcome to Tsukamo, Shark!" Yuma made a wide, sweeping motion with his hand to indicate what could be seen of his home country. Shark had actually been in Tsukamo for several hours, but Yuma had insisted that he come out on his balcony and enjoy the view from there before passing any judgement. The landscape was pleasant to look at, especially since the sun was setting, casting a golden-orange glow over the wheat fields. Closest to the castle was the capitol city surrounding it, but the view from Yuma's bedroom allowed one to see far beyond that, out to the country where the farms and ranches were.

Tsukamo was a land of plains and farming, Kazuma had explained. Its neighbors, Arclight and Tenjo, were more involved in industry and shipping, because farming in their rocky soil would have been impractical. "We don't have huge cliffs and waterfalls, though," Yuma said. "That's like the only downside.

Shark, having grown up on an island, had never seen such a huge expanse of farmland. In the distance, he could see tiny people urging a herd of tiny animals toward the barn for the night. "What are those animals, Yuma?" Shark asked curiously, pointing them out.

"Those are cows, Shark. You can't tell me you've never seen a cow before."

Shark shrugged. "Alright, I won't tell you."

"You mean you've actually never seen a cow or a bull in your entire life? Where do people in your country get their milk from? Or do you not know what milk is?"

Shark laughed. "Yes, I know what milk is. We get it from goats. There's nothing like goat milk." He paused, thinking for a moment. "Of course, it's been a while since I've had any." Slaves were only ever given water, and there hadn't been any milk aboard the _Emperor's Key_ ; it would have spoiled too quickly.

"Well, you'll get some cow milk tonight," Yuma decided. "They'll have it at the welcome back feast. Everyone will be there to welcome Dad and me back from our trip. You'll get to meet my mom and my sister- and her husband, too." He added this last part with a strange expression on his face. "She just married Prince Christopher of Arclight. Though, I suppose 'just' isn't really the right way to put it- it's been over a year since the wedding."

As he spoke, the Tsukamonian Prince began unpacking his and Shark's clothes, looking through them for something suitable. "We'll have to look good for the feast," he explained, selecting a maroon shirt, purple jacket, and black pants and handing them to Shark. "I think these are the best of your clothes- Anna did say they looked perfect on you.

"How that woman decides anything is beyond me," Shark said, accepting the outfit and shaking his head. It had always baffled him how Anna was able to say what he could and couldn't wear with absolute certainty. Nevertheless, he took the clothes and went to change. They did kind of flatter him, but he never would have said so out loud.

Shark was very nervous when he stepped into the grand dining hall, which was teeming with people he'd never seen before. "Yuma!" A tall woman with long, orange hair came forward to greet te, pulling Yuma into a long embrace. "Oh, my darling, I've missed you."

"I missed too Mom," Yuma said, clinging to her. Shark felt a pang of sorrow and looked away. The last time he had seen his own mother, she had been a bloody corpse hanging like an ornament outside her own palace.

"Yuma!" There were more cries of welcome as more relatives and friends came to meet the Prince. One was a tough-looking woman with magenta hair pulled up in a ponytail. She squeezed the Prince until he was gasping for air, turning purple in the face.

"Kari…can't… breathe…"

'Oh, sorry," she released him and took a step back to study him. "You've grown," she observed. "You're still not as tall as me, though." Kari grinned and ruffled his hair.

"Hey! Just give me a few more years, sis!"

 _So,_ Shark thought, _this is Yuma's sister. He didn't talk about her much on the ship._ The two siblings went at each other for a few more minutes, Shark standing awkwardly to one side. During their confrontation, Shark noticed a tall, pale man, with blue eyes and long, silver hair, standing behind Kari with a look of discomfort. _Is that her husband?_ Shark wondered.

He soon noticed that he wasn't the only one wondering about something. The older man's gaze landed on him often, questioning his presence, though it never lingered for long.

The bickering finally stopped and Kari's attention also came to rest on Shark. "Yuma, you dope, why didn't you introduce your new friend to us?"

"Because you were- oh, never mind. Kari, Chris, this is-" The introduction was cut short, because now someone else was calling the Prince's name.

"Yuma! Oh, how good it is to see you- in one piece, no less!"

"Hi, Grandma," Yuma greeted her as he was engulfed in a tight hug.

"You have no idea how much I missed you and your father," the Dowager Empress said, beaming.

"Ack…Grandma…can't breathe…" 

"Oh, I'm sorry, dear." Haru released him, stepping back to get a better look at her grandson. "Look how you've grown! And so handsome!"

"Sheesh, Grandma," Yuma muttered, his ears bright red. Shark was beginning to notice a pattern in how Tsukamonian women greeted people.

"Roku, you remember my grandson Yuma, don't you despite how much he's grown?"

"Of course, of course," a short, older man came forward, a broad smile lighting up his face. "I hope you practiced your dueling skills while you were away, Yuma."

"Master Roku! Good to see you, old timer! Of course I practiced- you don't get to be as good as me if you don't practice a lot."

"If people practice a lot and they end up with your level of skill I'd be pretty worried," Tori, who happened to be passing and had overheard, muttered.

"Hey!" Yuma was indignant. The adults in the group all chuckled.

"Well, your highness," Master Roku said, quieting his laughter, "Aren't you going to introduce us to this young man?" Everyone's attention turned towards Shark, who had to fight the urge to kneel and hide his face.

"Sure! Everyone, this is Shark. He's a really good duelist, and he's a Barian."

"A good duelist, ay?" Master Roku said, stroking his chin. "Interesting."

"A Barian?" Kari looked startled. "Why is he with you?"

For the first time, Yuma looked uncomfortable. There's a long story behind that…" he began. He was once again interrupted, but this time it was by the chiming of a bell.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Empress Mira announced, "I have just been informed that the meal is ready to be served, so if you would please take your seats, this feast can get started." The group of diners headed towards the table eagerly, and Shark found it difficult to keep track of Yuma through it all. It was also very disconcerting to know that so many eyes were trained on him at once.

It was only once everyone was seated and eating that Yuma was finally able to tell the story of how he had met Shark. The audience grew angrier, more sorrowful, and more horrified as the tale progressed.

"To think that these Barians will not only raid our countries but will turn to selling their own as well," Chris said in disgust. He immediately realized the error in his comment and looked at Shark apologetically. "No offense."

Shark shrugged. "I have learned that in all groups there is both good and bad," he said.

Yuma's mother, one of the most horror-stricken of the group, shook her head in dismay. "No one should ever have to live through slavery," she said. "How did you cope with it?"

A small smile graced Shark's lips as he remembered the happier moments of his enslavement. "I had friends among the other slaves- and in other places too. Some of the guards were my friends, and even one of my…" He paused, unsure of how to describe his one friend from before. "Even one of my masters was my friend. He was like Yuma- he asked for me as his birthday gift in an attempt to help me."

"If he was your friend, why would he sell you?" Kari asked skeptically

Shark closed his eyes, the memory too painful to bear, and he was not going to cry in front of all these people. "It wasn't his choice," he whispered, his voice portraying his pain. Before anyone could ask him to elaborate, the double doors to the grand dining room flew open and a messenger rushed in.

"Your majesty! Your majesty! An urgent message has just arrived from Arclight." Breathlessly, he handed it to Kazuma who hastily snatched and read it.

"My stars," he whispered his face a strange grey color. "Byron has evidence that a Barian Emperor is planning to invade all of Heartland." There were gasps of horror and astonishment around the room. "He's calling a meeting of all the Heartlandish rulers to formulate a plan to defend ourselves."

Yuma looked over at Shark. "You were in Baria for a long time. Do you know anything about this guy and what he wants?"

Shark stiffened and gripped the seat of his chair tightly. "Emperor Domitian of Astrania," he said hoarsely. "He's ruthless and will stop at nothing to get what he wants. He's already conquered most of Baria- I thought that was all he wanted. I never imagined that he would try and take over Heartland too. I thought he hated this place." He thought for a moment. "Though, to be honest, it doesn't really surprise me. Domitian likes to have dominance over those he hates."

"How do you know these things, Reginald?" Kazuma asked seriously.

Shark hesitated. Would they begin to suspect that he was royalty if he told them the truth? "My country was the first that Domitian conquered. I was taken as spoils of war, forced into slavery by those who had captured me. Domitian…took a 'liking' to me, I guess. He took me for his own and made me his personal slave." His voice hardened. "I've seen what that monster can do, and believe me, you won't find it easy to stop him."

A gloomy silence descended over the dining room, finally broken by the Emperor. "Nevertheless, we have to try to defend ourselves. Mira, Yuma, Kari, and Christopher- we're going to Arclight immediately. Shark, I think you'd better come along too. No matter how impressive the foe, we will not give into him. I don't life violence, but now that we're faced with no choice, we will fight. We will defend the people and places that we care about. If this Domitian thinks he can come in here and take whatever he wants, he's got another thing coming!"

 **Next time on** _ **A Tale of Two Slaves:**_ **Some familiar faces appear in the Southern Isles, on a very important mission.**


	15. Dumon's Crusade

"Spill it! Who did you sell the Barian slave to?" The slave trader stared up in terror at the fierce blue eyes of the man holding a knife to his throat.

"I-I don't know, honestly! It was a boy with spikey hair and a lot of money! He paid 100 gold pieces for the Barian. That's all I know, I swear!" Mizar studied his victim for a few more moments before swiftly knocking him out with a few well-placed pressure points on his neck. He exited the shack that served as the slave trader's office to rejoin his companions.

"A rich boy with spiky hair," Mizar said. "That's all he knew." Groans went through the group. Dumon, Mizar, Alito, Girag, and Vector had stolen loads of money, crossed the ocean, and tracked Nash this far, only to be foiled because the person who had- Dumon's blood boiled as the idea- _purchased_ him had been a stranger.

"Maybe we should stop and rest for the night," Girag suggested. "Things always look better in the morning."

"We don't rest until we know where we're going when we wake up," Dumon said in determination

"Maybe you should let me go back in there and kill that scum," Mizar said darkly. "It would make me feel a whole lot better, and he deserves n less."

Dumon shook his head. "There's been enough killing for one day," he sighed. Earlier, they had found the captain of the _Skull Kraken,_ a man named Chironex, who had brought Nash here in the first place. The slaver evidently didn't take them seriously, because he's laughed and told them exactly what he thought of their crusade.

" _You might as well hang yourselves, if you're going to waste time on a pathetic slave. You'll regret it if you do find him. All he'll do I cower at your feet, waiting or orders, not knowing who you are. I broke him. I turned him into an obedient slave, which was all he was ever good for."_

Dumon had lost his temper and had let Mizar do whatever he wished to that disgusting piece of filth. They'd left Chironex's body in the wake of Galaxy Eyes's fury. Dumon felt guilty about it now, though. His father had told him that Knights only killed in necessity, never for revenge or personal glory.

"We could ask the locals," Alito suggested next. "Maybe they saw something."

It turned out that the locals of the Southern Isles were not very willing to admit if they had seen something unless there was something shiny and valuable in exchange for it. Dumon loathed the idea of giving up yet more money that had been gathered to buy Nash back, but they had no choice. Unfortunately, even when they forked over the cash, the answers they got weren't very conclusive. Another handicap was that only Vector could speak Heartlandish, and he sometime had a hard time translating because of the thick accents.

As the night wore on, the five Barians were getting desperate, not to mention tired, hungry, and thirsty. "Please!" Vector called out. "Has anyone seen a boy with blue eyes, ivory skin, and purple hair? We will reward you for any intel you can give us!" He held up his money pouch. They had stumbled into the market place, where people weren't as willing to talk. A few of them even laughed.

They were about to move on when a voice called out, "Young man, did you say blue eyes?" The group turned towards an elderly woman with sharp black eyes.

"Yes," Vector said eagerly. "Why? Did you see him?"

"It's possible." Dumon began digging around in his money pouch once he'd heard Vector's translation.

"How much do you want for telling us what you know?" Vector asked for him.

"That depend on if I know what you wish to discover. Was it blue like this?" she held up a string of clear, light blue beads, "Or blue such as this?" She held up another strand, this one with dark blue, almost indigo, beads on it."

"That one!" Vector cried, pointing to it.

"Ah. It seems I do know whom you are searching for." She laid he beads carefully back down. "I remember a boy about your own age that was here one night. His coloring was as you described, very unusual around here, especially his eyes. He was with a younger man, a rich youth, wearing gold and fine cloth. He was a member of the party that had come in on Emperor Kazuma's ship, as odd as that sounds. Everyone knows that the ruler of Tsukamo detests slavery, and that's certainly what the boy was. The chains he wore marked him as a recent purchase."

Vector was so excited he could barely get the words out in Barian, sometimes mixing them up in Astranian.

"Emperor Kazuma of Tsukamo," Dumon said, his face set in determination. "His palace will be our next- and hopefully last- destination." He reached into his pouch and pulled out a handful of coins. "Please, take these as a sign of our gratitude."

"Only if you will take these in return," the woman said, handing him the strings of blue beads. "Give them to someone special- perhaps to your friend when you find him."

"Thank you," Dumon said, practicing one of his few Heartlandish words once Vector had explained the request. The leader of the group slid the beads into a pocket in his tunic and turned his face north, towards Tsukamo. "Don't worry, Nash. We're coming for you."

 **Next time on** _ **A Tale of Two Slaves:**_ **The part everyone's been waiting for.**


	16. Reunion

"Wow. You look beautiful, Rio." Quattro meant what he said. The new dress Rio was wearing was perfect for her. Her white shoulders showed through the thin gauze of the top, the blue folds complimented her well, and there was just enough pink to bring out her eyes.

Rio blushed, smoothing out the skirt. A few years ago, she could never have imagined wearing such a thing, but now she quite enjoyed it. It made her feel like a princess again. "Thank you," she said. She looked up and studied him. "You don't look bad yourself."

"Well, thanks." Quattro was dressed in his best royal garb, making him look exceptionally handsome. His black eye had also faded to a dull yellow and was no hardly noticeable. It would disappear completely in a few more days, Dr. McNeil had said.

"How are your ribs?" Rio asked as she took his arm.

"Oh, still a bit sore. But it's nothing I can't handle." She laughed.

The two of them were all dressed up for the arrival of the royal families from Tenjo, Tsukamo, and Animalia. Even though their continent was in serious danger, protocol was still followed to the letter in Arclight.

The royal couple (though only two people knew they could rightfully be called that) swept out onto the plaza like they ruled the place- which, someday, they might. Rio breathed the fresh air deeply, enjoying it. The sting of her brother's death had dulled a little, but it still hurt. She wore both rings on her left hand all the time, never taking them off. She had vowed she never would.

Iris waved to her from her place besides Trey, smiling brightly. Rio smiled back, even if it was a bit strained. Seeing Iris always reminded her how her little sister would never see her older brother again, never really get to know him, never remember him the way Rio did. She blinked back her tears, pretending it was the bright light, not wanting Iris to see her sadness.

King Byron stood at the head of the group, his crown glinting in the sun. Trumpets sounded as the first carriages pulled up. It was the Tenjos, Lord Faker, Kite, Hart, and a young woman no one recognized. Kite helped her down from the carriage and then took her arm, escorting her up the stairs.

"Karl, thank you for coming."

"Well, Byron, this wouldn't be the time to miss a meeting."

Hart immediately went over to Iris, eager to see her again. The two young friends were soon engaged in a giggle-ridden conversation.

As Kite and his companion approached, Rio and Quattro realized that the girl had a black eyepatch over her right eye. "Hey, Kite!" Quattro greeted his fellow crown prince. "How's it going?"

"Quite well. Prince Thomas, Lady Kastle, allow me to introduce Lady Hillary Melbourne. She's a friend of mine. Our mothers were friends."

"How do you do," the two young ladies said, curtsying to each other. The new arrivals stood with the Arclights and waited with them.

The next ones to arrive were Queen Dextra and Nistro, dressed in full ceremonial garb. Greetings were exchanged between the royals, but Rio noticed Dextra's eyes straying Hillary every once in a while. Probably just curiosity.

The Tsukamos arrived last, and by that time Quattro and Trey were just about ready to bust from waiting to see Chris again. Finally, the carriages arrived. Emperor Kazuma and Empress Mira got out of the first one, and then Kari and Chris stepped out of the second.

"Chris!" the tall man's brothers threw themselves at him, proper procedure or not.

"Hey, guys," Chris greeted them, pulling them both into a brotherly hug. "I've missed you."

"We missed you too," Trey cried, clinging to him.

"Chris, you remember Rio Kastle, don't…you…?" Quattro trialed off, confused. Rio's face had gone white, and she was staring at the party that had emerged from the third carriage. It was Prince Yuma and Tori Meadows; that was nothing new. But behind them was a young man with purple hair and blue eyes, looking curiously around himself. He hadn't noticed Rio staring at him yet.

"Rio?" Quattro's voice felt far away, as though he was calling to her through a fog. Rio couldn't take her eyes off the person who had just wandered into her plain of vision. It couldn't be…could it? She _had_ to be hallucinating. Then, the boy's eyes landed on her, and she _knew._

Nash could only stare. He felt like he was plummeting down, down, and down, like you do sometimes in dreams right before waking up. His lungs felt clogged and he couldn't breathe. People were calling to him, but he could barely hear them through his ringing ears. Then, the phantom image was coming towards him, calling his name.

"Nash? Is that you? Please, bother, tell me that it's you. Tell me you're not a ghost come to haunt me. Nash? Do you know me? It's your sister, Marin."

 _Marin._ The name that had haunted him for months, and this girl claimed to be her. It had to be, it just _had_ to be…and yet he was so afraid it wasn't. "Marin? You're here?" Something suddenly clicked, and neither heaven nor hell could have stopped them then. The two siblings ran towards each other, one down the steps and one towards them, tears streaming down the cheeks of both. Then, they were in each other's arms, touching each other, knowing that the other one was there, really and truly there.

"You're alive! You're alive! Nash, you're alive!"

"I was so sure…so sure I would never see you again. Tell me, Marin, am I dreaming?"

"If you a, then I'm having the same dream!" The two of them clung to each other desperately, both thinking that they would never let go.

"Marin?" A small voice came from behind them. Iris was looking up at them, bewilderment written across her face.

"Iris! Oh, Iris!" Rio fell on her sister, covering her in kisses and tears. "Iris, this is your brother. This is Nash. Don't you remember him?"

Iris turned and looked at the boy in front of her. She didn't recognize his face, not really, but she knew immediately in her heart that he was her brother. "Brother?" she whispered.

"Iris? Little Iris?" Nash tried desperately to dry his tears, but his efforts were futile. "Look how…big you are. You must be bigger than Marin was when I last saw you both…oh, Iris! I've missed you." He pulled the little girl close, feeling her small body against him and having a fresh bout of tears bursting forth. How much had he missed? Marin was a woman, and Iris was…no longer a little girl. She was six years older. All of them were.

"Yuma," Shark said, turning towards the one who had brought him here, "Yuma, these are my sisters, Iris and Marin."

"Rio and Iris are your sisters?" Yuma was dumbstruck. The entire conversation had taken place in Salkie, so no one had understood what was happening.

"Quattro!" Marin cried happily, "Quattro, this is my brother. This is Nash! He's alive! He's alive!" She laughed out loud, throwing her head back in joy. The Heartlanders could only stare, caught up in awe and wonder, as the twins embraced each other again.

Clumsily, through her emotion, Rio began taking Nash's ring off of her little finger and putting it on his ring finger. She had sworn never to take it off, but some vows were meant to be broken.

Nash looked down at it, the platinum shining in the sun, as he remembered the vow he himself had made the last time he had seen his sisters. "I told you, didn't I?" He said, his eyes shining. "I told you I would never really leave your side."

 **The End**


	17. A Tale of Two Slaves Part 5: Hope

_**A Tale of Two Slaves Part 5: Hope**_

Nash, Marin, and Iris have to spend time together to get to know each other again and find out what's happened to the other over the past six years. Quattro is jealous of all the attention Rio gives her brother, and invites him to one of his parties to humiliate him in front of the rich Arclight teenagers. His plan backfires when Shark drinks some wine, and having a flashback of that night in Domitian's dining hall, has a panic attack and collapses. Quattro begins to find out what Shark went through and apologizes, swearing not to tell Rio and upset her. Meanwhile, Kite begins to notice Hart acting strangely, and then Hillary, who has a habit of hiding in unlikely places and eavesdropping, begins to suspect Nash and Marin's true identities. Nash is sure there is someone watching him, and wonders what Iris's strange behavior could indicate. He tells Marin they have to prepare to leave- their people still need them. She is reluctant because Quattro has just confessed his love for her, and she realizes that she loves him too. But, as a Barian Princess, she could never marry an Arclightian Prince. Kite overhears them, however, and the next day revels that Nash is the son of the former leader of the Barian Emperors. He accuses the siblings of being in league with Heartland and Domitian, and that they are trying to befriend the Heartlanders in order to make conquering them easier. Finding out about Hart's injury being the Barians' fault, Shark kneels and invites Kite to kill him in retribution. Before he can, though, Vector bursts into the room, announcing, "Kill my King, and you'll have to kill me." Mizar, Dumon, Alito, and Girag are also there, and they ambush the royals in an attempt to rescue Nash. Nash insists that they stop, however, and once again gives Kite his proposal. Kite readies himself to cut Nash's throat, but realizes he can't become a cold-blooded killer in front of his little brother. Girag then steps in and offers to look at Hart's legs, suggesting a Barian method of rejuvenating dulled nerves. Dumon tells the story of how he and the others tracked Nash, and how they're ready to purchase his freedom- along with Rio's and Iris's. Because of the way he treats her, Quattro begins to see Dumon as a rival. Because of the Barian practice of never taking charity, Yuma and King Byron agree to accept the payment, and Shark and Rio are freed. Afterwards, they request the Heartlanders' help in defeating Domitian, and each nation agrees. AS they prepare for war, Hart learns to walk again, and it is revealed that he and Iris have feelings for each other. Both their older brothers have mixed feelings about this, but decide that it will eventually pass. Nash has a conversation with Heartland the night before his execution, asking him if he has any regrets. Heartland, being a coward, is terrified of dying and regrets everything, but nothing will save him. After his death, (which is private) Nash, Marin, and Iris, board a ship to go home, along with their new Heartlandish allies.


	18. A Tale of Two Slaves Part 6: Fight

_**A Tale of Two Slaves Part 6: Fight**_

The Seven Barian Emperors and the Heartlanders meet up with the rebels after landing, and Shark is reunited with Weasel, Marya, Vivian, and Kylie. Marin is a bit peeved at how close her brother and Marya seem to be. A huge surprise awaits everyone, however, when it is revealed that Kylie is, in fact, Lady Tenjo, Kite and Hart's mother and Lord Faker's wife. After a tearful reunion, battle plans are made, and the fight against Domitian begins. After many struggles, they finally are able to invade Astrania and reach the capitol. Nash bursts into Domitian's throne room and challenges him to a duel, while Marya and Marin hurry to free all of Domitian's slaves and captives and the others fight the Astranian army. Soon, the other royals reach the throne room to see Nash struggling to hold his own against Domitian. Domitian taunts Nash, calling him Shark and telling him that he's still a slave, not a ruler. He recounts some of the times Shark begged and screamed for him, enjoying Marin's horror. "All I have to do to stop you is use a firm hand," Domitian boasts, and then orders Shark to stop his rebellion and kneel before his master. Shark's determination begins to falter as his old instincts come back, and he is soon crawling to Domitian's feet. As Domitian laughs in triumph, however, Nash jumps up and puts his sword at his throat, announcing, "I win." Domitian is taken prisoner and Vector is declared the new Emperor of Astrania. As he is being loaded onto a ship, Domitian breaks free and attacks Nash, but Vector jumps in to save him, stabbing Domitian in the stomach and killing him. Vector struggles with the fact that he killed his own father, but his mother comforts him, saying that at that point, it was either his father or his King. "And Domitian wasn't much of a father anyway," she adds. In the epilogue, Nash marries Marya and Quattro marries Marin, though they promise to stay a while before heading back to Arclight. Iris decides to stay with her brother and get to know him and her people as the Princess of the United Lands, and Yuma finally works up the nerve to propose to Tori.


End file.
